President Donald Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists asking a federal court to halt his White House ballroom project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking the U.S. District Court to block Trump’s White House ballroom project, which already has involved razing the East Wing, until it goes through comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments, and congressional debate and ratification.
The National Trust, a privately funded organization, argues that Trump, by fast-tracking the project, has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by not seeking congressional approval for a project of such scale.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever—not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the lawsuit states. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
No more work should be done, the Trust argues, until administration officials “complete the required reviews—reviews that should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom—and secure the necessary approvals.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not immediately respond to Associated Press questions about the lawsuit and the project, including whether the president had any intention of consulting Congress. Trump has emphasized since announcing his plans that he’s doing it with private funding, including his own money. But that would not necessarily change how federal laws and procedures apply to what is still a U.S. government project.
Trump, a Republican, already has bypassed the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews with the East Wing demolition. He recently added another architectural firm for a ballroom that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before the East Wing’s demolition.
Trump has said a ballroom is overdue for the White House, previously complaining that events were held outside under a tent because the East Room and the State Dining Room could not accommodate bigger crowds. Trump, among other complaints, said guests get their feet wet if it rains during such events.
The White House is expected to submit plans for Trump’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends, about three months after construction began.
Will Scharf, who was named by Trump as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the panel’s monthly meeting last week that he was told by colleagues at the White House that the long-awaited plans would be filed in December.
“Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin,” said Scharf, who also is one of the Republican president’s top White House aides.
He said the review process would happen at a “normal and deliberative pace.”
—By Bill Barrow, Associated Press