House Administration Hearing with Architect of the Capitol Focused on Rayburn Construction Project

WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Joe Morelle (NY-25), the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, stressed the importance of adequate funding for the Architect of the Capitol and proper planning to avoid a “catastrophic system failure” in the Rayburn House Office Building during the hearing with the Architect of the Capitol, Thomas Austin. 

“Like many legislative branch agencies, the AOC is continually asked to do more with less. And while the agency’s dedicated workforce has made a herculean effort to keep campus running, it has done so on a budget that has not kept pace with the work,” said Rep. Joe Morelle, during his opening statement. “We owe it to the people who work in and visit these buildings, including the AOC employees who keep them standing, to plan and fund this work before a failure forces our hand.”

Ranking Member Morelle asked Mr. Austin about the safety risk Rayburn poses in its current state and the increased amount of systems failures like leaks and flooding Rayburn has experienced due to the deteriorating infrastructure. 

Despite the Architect’s funding request for continued operations and planning for the Rayburn construction project, Republican Appropriators proposed an essentially flat budget for FY 2027 and allocated zero funding for the first major step in the Rayburn renovation – the design and construction of “swing space” to accommodate displaced Member, committee, and support offices.

Click here to watch the hearing.

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