Overview

• Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to visit Alcatraz Thursday to unveil the administration’s proposal to convert the island back into a federal penitentiary.
• No congressional approval, construction timeline or allocated budget has been secured for the reopening initiative.
• Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie have condemned the effort as a diversionary and impractical undertaking.
• Experts including former park ranger John Martini warn that the cellblock lacks water, sewage and full electricity, with repairs estimated at nearly $1 billion plus $40–100 million in annual maintenance.
• Reassigning Alcatraz from National Park Service oversight would require a two-thirds majority vote in Congress to repeal existing environmental protections.