• By Stephen Staudigl
• August 31, 2026

President Trump Appoints Mark Paoletta National Capital Planning Commission Chairman

On August 26, 2026 President Donald Trump appointed Mark Paoletta as the at-large Presidential appointee to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and designated him to serve as Commission Chairman. His first Commission meeting will be on Thursday, September 3, 2026. 

“I am honored to be appointed by President Trump to serve as Chairman of the NCPC,” said Chairman Paoletta. “President Trump has transformed D.C. into a capital worthy of the greatest nation in history. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to further the President’s historic restoration and beautification of the National Capital Region, especially in the 250th year of our country’s independence.”

NCPC is the federal government’s central planning agency for Washington, DC and the surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia. In his new role, Chairman Paoletta will lead the 12-member Commission and oversee the Commission’s review of federal development projects, long-range planning efforts, and planning policies in the National Capital Region. The Commission meets monthly, generally on the first Thursday of the month except for August.

He also serves as the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB)’s General Counsel and is head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). He has practiced law for nearly 40 years in Washington, DC, both in private practice and in government service. In the first Trump Administration he also served as OMB’s General Counsel. Prior government service includes working as a lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George H.W. Bush and as Chief Counsel for Oversight and Investigations with the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Chairman Paoletta has a B.A. from Duquesne University and received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Previous Chairman Will Scharf stepped down on August 25 due to his new job as White House Counsel. He had served as NCPC Chairman since July 9, 2025.