Congress proposes carving sitting president onto Mount Rushmore.
H.R. 792 — To direct the Secretary of the Interior to arrange for the carving of the figure of President Donald J. Trump on Mount Rushmore National Memorial. · Filed by Anna Luna (R-FL) · Introduced Jan 28, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to carve a figure of President Donald J. Trump onto Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The bill names a sitting president as the subject of a new federal monument carving, which would require significant taxpayer funding, engineering work, and alteration of a protected national landmark.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to direct a federal agency to carve a sitting president onto a protected national monument. This is a direct use of government power to honor an active officeholder, funded by taxpayers, with no public-policy justification beyond political recognition.
What the text implies
- Establishes precedent that sitting presidents can be added to protected national monuments via simple legislation, potentially opening Mount Rushmore to future carving requests.
- Raises constitutional and statutory questions about the National Park Service's authority to alter a protected monument without environmental review or public process.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
construction contractors; engineering firms specializing in monument work