A federal commission on Thursday approved President Donald Trump’s plan for a $400 million White House ballroom, saying a federal court order halting construction has no impact on its review process.
The majority of the National Capital Planning Commission supported the slightly modified design – which included the removal of a feature derided as the “Stairs to Nowhere” on the South Portico – with only D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson voting against the plans. Both individuals, appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, voted “present.”
The commission’s approval — which was expected, given that the group includes representatives of President Donald Trump — came about a month later. After hearing hours of criticism from the panel About design plans for a massive ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing of the White House.
Commission Chairman William Scharf dismissed complaints about the expansion, comparing it to a series of headlines condemning previous White House construction projects, while also taking aim at “negative comments” focused on the demolition process, the interior design, and the President himself.
“We are not some kind of independent ballroom justice commission,” said Scharff, who also complained that the NCPC “has been unfairly vilified in the press and otherwise” for the way we reviewed this particular project.
Scharf rejected any suggestion that George W. Bush-appointed U.S. District Judge Richard Lyons’ Tuesday ruling ordering the Trump administration to halt construction without “explicit authorization from Congress” should delay the commission’s own review. The order in the lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation told the White House that it needed congressional approval to continue, but allowed the work to continue for 14 days.
“From my perspective, we have a project in front of us. We’ve been asked to review it, and that’s really our job today,” Scharff said, noting that NCPC was not a party to the lawsuit.
Scharff, who also serves as White House staff secretary, has repeatedly defended the Trump administration’s construction plans, saying, “The White House complex has continually evolved to meet the programmatic needs of the federal government and the Office of the President.”
He said he hoped the ballroom would “become a national treasure in every way like the other major components of the White House.”
Trump suddenly ordered demolition of the East Wing of the White House last fall, saying the building would have to be demolished to make way for the ballroom. He has insisted that construction costs will be covered by private donations, even though the price tag has risen from about $200 million to $400 million.
But Mendelson, who offered the most detailed objection to the project, suggested the NCPC did not take enough time to review the ballroom proposal.
“The issue for me is not whether there should be a ballroom or not,” Mendelson said. “It’s the design.”
He compared the process of planning and building the ballroom to that of the Capitol Visitor Center, a massive project that still preserved historic views of the Capitol.
“There’s a lot of value in an iterative process, and we don’t have that,” Mendelson said.
