Following the change in presidential administrations, the Living New Deal (LND) has been closely tracking potential threats to the federal government’s art and architecture collection, managed by the General Services Administration (GSA). GSA is the steward of over 500 of the government’s historic buildings and the nation’s largest collection of public art, which includes 26,000 objects dating from the 1850s through the present day. Many were commissioned under the New Deal.
Last April, following the forced administrative leave of most of the GSA’s fine art and historic preservation staff by order of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), LND launched a watchdog campaign to monitor GSA’s newly invented “accelerated disposals” list, published initially with more than 400 properties listed. A new “accelerated disposals” email was created for inquiries; assurances were offered that the law would be followed but little transparency was provided beyond that. When a more limited number of sites were published again in late spring, we began collaborating with experts on an ArcGIS Online map that identifies the historic sites on the “accelerated disposals” list, highlighting those that contain art.
While some of the properties listed on the “accelerated disposals” list had been in the pipeline for disposal for years, the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building (originally the Social Security Building) wasn’t one of them. The structure was completed in 1940 following the 1935 passage of the landmark Social Security Act. A combination of pre-World War II art moderne and stripped classicism styles with a subtle Egyptian flair, the architectural design is distinctive for the region. The building’s significance is enhanced by extraordinary fresco murals by distinguished American artists, such as Ben Shahn, Philip Guston, and Seymour Fogel. These works, in addition to sculptural reliefs, most chemically bound or carved into the walls, offer powerful reflections on the meaning of Social Security to working Americans. The artworks are therefore difficult if not impossible to remove.
Given the potential for irrevocable loss of shared cultural heritage, LND and its advisors decided to take legal steps to intervene. In October, we sent a formal letter to the GSA and other federal agencies requesting participation as a consulting party in the GSA-led Section 106 process, which should decide the Cohen Building’s fate. We hoped there was time to explore options, such as a private-public partnership that repurposes the Cohen Building into a profitable hub through adaptive reuse—an ideal scenario that requires Section 106 collaboration. Perhaps the Lighthouse in Venice Beach, California, can be a model for an elegant and respectful reuse of a New Deal–era public building?
Furthermore, we were also advised that the Section 106 process may not result in preservation; it is merely a review process. For that reason, we began publishing editorials, including one in this newspaper, and created a public petition to save the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building. Shortly after it began collecting signatures, we received correspondence formally inviting LND to become a Section 106 consulting party, which we accepted. We were told the process would not begin for some time. We felt a small measure of relief that the Cohen Building was safe for the moment.
But on December 8, in Washington, D.C. federal district court, bombshell testimony by Mydelle Wright—a recently retired, highly decorated GSA official—urgently communicated that the Cohen Building and its art are in grave danger. She stated that the White House is taking steps to bypass or circumvent the GSA-led Section 106 process for four federal buildings on the “accelerated disposals” list.
The four buildings include the Cohen Building and the Old GSA Regional Office Building, another New Deal–era structure that has 22 large, oil-on-canvas murals by Harold Weston. Wright’s declaration states that the White House, acting outside the rule of law and the GSA, is coordinating bids for demolition of these sites, in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act and at least half a dozen other federal and state environmental protection laws. Her warning is clear. Demolition is no longer an abstract possibility but an imminent threat. This civil servant came out of retirement at personal risk to tell us that.
In response to that bombshell, Marianne Copenhaver, GSA Associate Administrator for Strategic Communications and a political appointee, stated that “it’s a manufactured narrative built on speculation” and emphasized that “GSA is proud to right-size the federal real estate portfolio by properly disposing of these four unneeded assets,” emphasizing the process of “disposal,” not demolition. But “disposal” without a rigorous Section 106 review process means greenlighting demolition, no matter how the White House and its proxies try to spin it.
The current administration tends to tell us what it plans to do, which in this case would violate the proud tradition of U.S. government stewardship without regard for any historical, cultural, or ethical considerations. This violation happened in October with the demolition of the East Wing of the White House.
From evidence presented by the government in court last week, there were approximately two months between the grossly inadequate 17-page Environmental Assessment report (filed in late August by the National Parks Service) and the bulldozing of the East Wing in late October. The report considered only two options—demolition or no demolition—and despite admitting substantial adverse effects, it concluded “No Significant Finding,” which enabled destruction. Within a very short time the East Wing was gone.
We fear that a similarly rushed process of review or a lack thereof may result in the razing of the Cohen Building. This could happen as quickly as January or over the holiday break, when federal staff have unexpectedly been given a five-day weekend. (Astute readers will recall that the excavators came for the East Wing during the longest-ever government shutdown in U.S. history.)
Without a Memoranda of Agreement in the forthcoming contract of sale for the Cohen Building, a legally binding and collaboratively negotiated document that includes historic preservation covenants, as well as tax breaks and other financial incentives to encourage responsible stewardship, demolition becomes inevitable. From evidence we have been able to gather, it appears that adaptive reuse is not on the agenda right now. It is very possible that selling the building intact isn’t on the agenda either.
See Something? Say Something
We don’t have to accept a Raw Deal that destroys the Cohen Building and its exceptional artworks. We must fight for what these New Deal–era artworks represent: equitable government policies, fair employment practices, social safety nets, and a nation that values all workers and honors our shared history.
As we approach Christmas, we have a prospective nightmare scenario on our hands that may unfold over the holidays or in the first quarter of the New Year. In addition to a warning given by a respected GSA leader, there are concerns about the introduction of congressional legislation or new provisions tucked into legislation that could create Section 106 waivers for sites on the GSA’s “accelerated disposals” list, paving the way for demolition. How can we, as citizens who care about the history and promise of this nation, prevent the undermining of historic preservation law and the federal agencies tasked with protecting the Cohen Building and other significant cultural heritage sites?
In anticipation of the worst-case scenario, LND is asking people who live in Washington, D.C. to check on the Cohen Building throughout the holiday break, take photographs, and report any signs of construction mobilization to LND and to the media. Please also continue to help us build public support by encouraging signatures on our Change.org petition, now more than 5,000 signatures strong. We are told that the government is paying attention to such public engagement; our campaign and our voices are making an impact.
But there is also an ominous silence that we hope will change in the New Year. During the New Deal, artists, art historians, museum directors, architects, and editors led the way in defending the arts via writing, public speaking, unionizing, and even demonstrating in the streets, while others pioneered practices in the field of historic preservation decades before laws were enacted to protect historic sites. Can our most influential voices in the cultural sphere be emboldened to save the Cohen Building and its invaluable treasures?
To our colleagues in the arts, academia, and in the architecture world, we urge you to publicly defend the artists of the Cohen Building as well as Charles Z. Klauder, the architect who so carefully chose the Indiana limestone–clad exterior, Vermont Verde marble interior, and other art deco features. His work underscores the promise of Social Security embodied in a 1,000,000-square-foot structure devoted to public service that endures as a reminder of good government. Gray Brechin, LND’s founder, called Klauder’s building the “Sistine Chapel of New Deal art” for good reason. Together, its art and architecture exemplify the progressive impact of the New Deal on American life and on the government’s role in the creation of a more just society.
The holiday season is a time for rest and reflection, but it is also a crucial moment in this fight. We ask you to rally at your laptops and lend your powerful words to our cause. If you believe the Cohen Building should be preserved for future generations, then speak out, like Timothy Noah did on his Substack. If you’re hesitant to act alone—as an individual or as an institution—find collaborators and let your words fly in formation.
Urge friends engaged in the legacy media or on other public platforms to hold elected officials accountable, advocate for the Cohen Building, and safeguard our historic preservation laws. We all share a civic duty to preserve the past as an investment in our future. These New Deal buildings, and the artworks that grace their interiors, reflect where we came from and envision where we might go as a society.
The architects of the New Deal commissioned the Cohen Building and its art believing in government as a positive force to ensure the welfare of the American people. They gave gifts that we have the capacity to save. Don’t let the architects of today’s Raw Deal steal that legacy from us.
The authors would like to thank journalist Timothy Noah of The New Republic for breaking the story in September and for his intrepid investigative reporting.
Mary Okin is the assistant director of the Living New Deal Project, where she leads the Advocating for New Deal Art initiative and the campaign to save the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building.
Laura Katzman is a professor of art history at James Madison University and Guest Curator of Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity, a retrospective presented by the Museo Reína Sofia, Madrid (2023–24) and the Jewish Museum, New York (2025).
