An inspector general’s investigation that revealed Brett Blanton had abused a government vehicle and reportedly impersonated a law enforcement officer led President Biden to terminate Blanton on Monday, a White House insider reported.
“After doing our due diligence, the Architect of the Capitol was terminated at the President’s direction.”
A few hours after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) demanded Blanton’s resignation or removal by Biden, the president took action.
The Architect of the Capitol, who is in charge of the upkeep, preservation, and development of the Capitol complex, had also been asked on to resign by the chairman of the House Administration Committee, Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), and the ranking member, Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.).
Inquiries on the inspector general report were made to the White House earlier this month. According to Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, he was “taking this very seriously” and would “take any advice the members of Congress or any action that they want to take very seriously.”
The Architect of the Capitol may only be fired by the president. As the architect of the Capitol, Blanton was proposed by former President Trump and approved by the Senate in December 2019.
According to the inspector general’s report, which was made public in October, Blanton and his family had been using Architect of the Capitol cars meant for home-to-work travel as personal vehicles, incurring unnecessary expenses of about $14,000 as a result. Blanton had also been mistakenly recognized as an off-duty police officer when he pursued after a hit-and-run that had occurred outside his house.
After Blanton described himself as a “Capitol Police Board Member,” he claimed that Fairfax County Police made a mistake and denied portraying himself as police enforcement.
The House Administration Committee questioned Blanton last week about the findings.
