Several senior Architect of Capitol leaders fired in latest shake-up

Several top-ranking leaders in the Architect of the Capitol’s office were asked to resign or be terminated on Thursday, marking the latest shake-up in the agency after President Biden fired Brett Blanton as Architect of the Capitol in February.

Chere Rexroat, the acting Architect of the Capitol and Chief Engineer who took over after Blanton’s departure, announced the changes in an email to the agency’s staff on Thursday, providing few details or additional reasoning. Rexroat also said the Government Accountability Office will conduct a review, the scope and focus of which was also not immediately clear.

The terminations included officials in the agency’s “C-Suite Leadership” – The Architect of the Capitol’s General Counsel Jason Baltimore, Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Kraft, Chief Administrative Officer William O’Donnell, and Chief of Staff Peter Bahm. The agency oversees the operations of the Capitol Complex and its facilities.

Some of those C-Suite leaders, all four of whom are veterans, were shocked at the termination and given no reasoning, according to multiple people familiar with the situation.

“It was like a Thursday morning massacre,” said one individual granted anonymity to speak candidly about the situation.

There have been no public accusations of wrongdoing by any of the four leaders.

The shake-up comes nearly two months after Blanton faced bipartisan calls to be removed from his position over an Inspector General report that found Blanton misused a government vehicle and allegedly impersonated a law enforcement officer.

The CEO for Visitor Services Beth Plemmons was also terminated on Thursday, following an Inspector General report made public last week that revealed an inappropriate but consensual romantic relationship with a subordinate supervisor in her chain of command. 

Plemmons did not respond to a request for comment.

Rexroat’s email to Architect of Capitol (AOC) staff that was obtained by The Hill acknowledged the turmoil that the agency has faced in the last several months and years.

“The last several years have been challenging for the AOC community. You served on the frontlines of a once in a generation pandemic, the events of January 6th, and saw the leader of our agency removed by the President of the United States,” Rexroat said in the message. “As of today, several members of the C-Suite Leadership team are no longer with the agency. While this will present a challenge in the short term, these personnel actions are vital to our long-term success, renewed accountability in partnership with Congress;  as leaders of this agency we must model and embrace our values of Respect, Integrity, Safety, and Empowerment.”

“To further demonstrate commitment to our values, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will undertake its own review. In addition to our internal analysis, these reviews are one component of the comprehensive effort to ensure our path forward is one in which we respect each other and our work; operate with integrity; ensure the safety of everyone who enters the Capitol Complex; and empower one another to contribute to the success of the AOC,” Rexroat’s message said.

The Architect of the Capitol’s office declined to comment on personnel matters.

An inspector general report released in October concerning Blanton increased congressional scrutiny of the Architect of the Capitol’s office. The report found that Blanton and his family had misused Architect of the Capitol vehicles intended for home-to-work use as personal vehicles, resulting in nearly $14,000 worth of inappropriate costs.

It also found that Blanton had been improperly identified as an off-duty police officer during an incident when he chased down a hit-and-run that happened outside his residence. Blanton denied misrepresenting himself as law enforcement, saying that it was a mistake on the part of Fairfax County Police after Blanton identified himself a “Capitol Police Board Member.”

The Architect of the Capitol is one of three members of the board that oversees the Capitol Police, along with the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms.

President Biden terminated Blanton in February after House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and ranking member Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.), as well as Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), called for his removal.

In a House Administration Committee hearing in February, Blanton also faced criticism from lawmakers over the agency’s telework policy and the fact that he was off campus during the day of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.