Rep. Jared Huffman of California revealed during a congressional hearing Wednesday that the National Park Service had hired a civil engineering firm to begin work connected to the historic public course in Washington, D.C., without a public announcement or prior notice to Congress. Federal records show the Park Service awarded a $389,355 contract on Sept. 10 to Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, an engineering firm, for design support and work related to environmental and historic-preservation requirements. Huffman, the ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, argued that the contract shows the administration is moving the project forward before Congress, the courts or the public can fully scrutinize the plans. The administration has previously said it intends to remake East Potomac into a “world-class golf venue,” while lawmakers and preservation groups have pushed for greater disclosure about the scope, cost and future public access to the federally owned property. “We have seen this playbook too many times to sit up here and pretend that we don’t know where this is going and how this story ends,” Huffman said, drawing parallels to Trump’s $600 million White House ballroom project. Read Golf Digest’s longform piece about the East Potomac-Trump battle here.