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Sonderling Announces the Restoration of the Frances Perkins Building, Jul. 24, 2026

July 24, 2026 · U.S. Department of Labor · 0:02:32

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What happened

Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling delivered a message outside the Frances Perkins Building — the Department of Labor’s home since 1974 — in a video the department released on July 24, 2026. He said the nation’s capital had for too long been neglected — “dirty, graffitied, broken, and decaying,” as he described it — and that years of neglect had allowed dirt, crime, and deterioration to accumulate in the building despite its premier location on Constitution Avenue across from the Capitol. “President Trump showed us that decline is a choice. And under his leadership, we are choosing to reverse that decline,” as he put it.

The restoration work, as Sonderling described it: professional cleaning crews power washing the exterior for the first time in more than 50 years, removing decades of dirt and neglect while preserving the historic limestone and architectural features; a defaced bronze plaque replaced; and the visitor’s-entrance fountain running once again, as part of the President’s citywide effort to restore historic fountains and public spaces, as he stated it. For the nation’s 250th birthday, he said, the department unfurled a 50-foot flag — over 56% larger than the previous flag, as he stated the figure — decorated the building with patriotic bunting, and hung banners celebrating President Roosevelt and President Trump as champions of the American worker.

Why it matters

The headquarters restoration is the Labor Department’s piece of the administration’s Washington beautification program, stated by its acting head as a governing philosophy — decline as a choice, reversed deliberately — applied to the government’s own buildings in the America’s 250th year.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the Frances Perkins Building restoration items Sonderling announced on July 24, 2026 — the first exterior power washing in more than 50 years, the replaced plaque, the restored fountain, and the 50-foot flag for America’s 250th. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, “Acting Secretary Sonderling at the DoL building” (Jul. 24, 2026, embedded above; remarks as delivered by Acting Secretary Sonderling).