President Trump is being sued by the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation to stop the construction of the new White House ballroom.
The trust argues that the ballroom construction violates numerous federal statutes, including the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Property Clause of the Constitution, by not conducting legally required reviews of the project and not getting the OK from Congress.
The lawsuit filed Friday names several individuals and departments aside from the president, including the National Park Service, the Interior Department, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the General Services Administration.
“The White House is arguably the most evocative building in our country and a globally recognized symbol of our powerful American ideals. As the organization charged with protecting places where our history happened, the National Trust was compelled to file this case,” the group’s CEO, Carol Quillen, said in a statement.
“Submitting the project to the National Capital Planning Commission for review protects the iconic historic features of the White House campus as it evolves,” she said. “Inviting comments from the American people signals respect and helps ensure a lasting legacy that befits a government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Mr. Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom plan, with the East Wing being demolished to account for it, has been a source of contention from Democrats.
“President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate and beautify the White House — just like all of his predecessors did,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Friday.
The president has argued that a ballroom is long overdue and is needed for hosting big events. Any questions about the price, which has gone from $200 million to $300 million, have been pushed aside because the funding has come from private donations.
He has said it will be completed before the end of his term.
The White House is still expected to submit plans for the ballroom to a federal planning commission before year’s end.
The lawsuit requests that the construction of the ballroom be stayed until the proper project reviews are completed. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“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. And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in,” the lawsuit says.
“President Trump’s efforts to do so should be immediately halted, and work on the Ballroom Project should be paused until the Defendants 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,” it says.
The National Trust said it submitted a letter to the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service and the Commission of Fine Arts in mid-October calling for a pause to construction until review processes were completed, but the “concerns went unaddressed.”
The trust was chartered by Congress in 1949 to facilitate the public’s participation in the preservation of national sites of significance, according to the nonprofit’s website.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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