The 'American Grown Act' Mandates U.S.-Sourced Flowers for White House, DoD, and State Department Decor

If you’ve ever noticed the floral arrangements at a State Department reception or the White House, you might not think much about where those roses and ferns come from. But the American Grown Act is about to make that a mandatory question for some of the most high-profile federal agencies. This bill mandates that starting one year after it becomes law, the Executive Office of the President (EOP), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of State can only purchase decorative cut flowers and greens that were grown in the U.S. or a qualifying territory.

The New Decor Rules: Buy American, Display American

This legislation is pretty straightforward: it’s a domestic sourcing mandate for floral decor. Specifically, Section 2 requires that when a “covered agency” (EOP, DoD, or State Department) buys cut flowers or greens for decoration within the U.S., they must source them from a “qualifying area.” That means a U.S. State, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory, or land under the jurisdiction of a federally recognized Indian Tribe. Think of it as a small, green-thumbed version of “Buy American” that applies to everything from the centerpiece on the Secretary of State’s desk to the bouquets at a Presidential dinner.

For the small-scale domestic flower industry, this is a clear win. It guarantees a dedicated, high-profile market for U.S. growers, which could be a nice boost for those family farms specializing in decorative foliage and flowers. It also adds Federally recognized Indian Tribes to the list of qualifying areas, recognizing their agricultural contributions.

When International Gifts Arrive

This is where things get a little detailed for the procurement officers. These covered agencies often receive floral arrangements as gifts from foreign governments or foreign principals—think of a diplomatic gift from an allied nation. The bill doesn't ban these gifts, but it adds a compliance layer that could be tricky to manage.

If the State Department, for example, accepts a foreign-grown floral gift, they must do two things: First, they have to clearly display the origin of the gifted flowers right next to them for the entire time they are on display. Second, and this is the interesting part, they must immediately purchase a replacement cut flower or green that was grown in a qualifying area and display it alongside the foreign gift. It’s essentially an offsetting requirement: for every foreign stem received as a gift, a domestic stem must be purchased and displayed in parallel.

Real-World Impact: More Paperwork, Higher Costs?

While this bill is focused on flowers, the real impact is administrative. For federal procurement officers and staff who handle gifts and decorations at the EOP, DoD, and State Department, this adds a new layer of complexity. They now need to verify the domestic origin of every decorative purchase and track the origin of every floral gift. For high-volume agencies like the State Department, which juggles countless diplomatic exchanges, this means new compliance checks and potentially higher costs, especially if domestic sourcing proves more expensive than existing international supply chains.

It’s a minor policy change in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a firm signal that the government wants to prioritize domestic agriculture, even down to the office decor. For the average person, this bill won't change much, but if you happen to be a domestic flower grower, or a procurement officer at the Department of Defense, you’ll definitely notice the difference.