The Centre Pompidou in Paris is an internationally-renowned hub of art and culture, and for years state and local leaders have been working with it to open a satellite campus in Jersey City. That project, known as Centre Pompidou X Jersey City, has become a point of pride for Gov. Phil Murphy and Mayor Steve Fulop.

That satellite campus is pitched as key to the redevelopment of the city’s Journal Square neighborhood. It’ll be placed in an existing building that needs to be renovated, and the opening is scheduled for 2026 — that’s pushed back from a previously announced 2024 target date.

So far $58 million of state money has been dedicated to the project, and that’s not sitting well with New Jersey Republicans. Sen. Mike Testa (R-Cumberland) is calling for an audit and state oversight of the project, which he has slammed as wasteful spending on a local pet project. The feud has an added level of political intrigue — Fulop has already declared his candidacy for governor in 2025, and Testa is widely speculated to be a potential Republican candidate in the same race.