White House ballroom plans get National Capital Planning Commission approval

President Donald Trump’s plans to build a ballroom on the site of the White House’s East Wing have received a stamp of approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.

The NCPC, an independent body within the executive branch which oversees and advises on projects on federal land in the National Capital Region, voted 8-1 at a meeting Thursday to approve of the design and plans for the "East Wing Modernization Project," which includes the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

The majority of the 12-member commission, including Trump-appointed chairman Will Scharf and other administration allies, voted in favor of the project while D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson cast the lone dissenting vote.

“I am pleased to announce that even board member Sen. Rand Paul, known as an extraordinarily difficult vote, voted a strong YES,” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform.

“For more than 150 years, every president has dreamt about having a ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, state visits, and even, in the modern day, inaugurations. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway.”

Scharf said during the meeting Thursday that he had personally reviewed “every single comment” received during a public comment period last month.

“I should note that many of the negative comments that were submitted to us during this process were frankly unresponsive. They dealt with issues beyond the scope of this commission, the private funding of the ballroom, for instance, or interior decorations or the demolition process or were simply opinions on the president himself,” he said.

“Considering issues of this sort is not within our mandate. We are not some sort of free-ranging ballroom justice commission.”

Scharf said there has long been a need for a large entertaining and event space on the White House complex, noting that events are often held outside in “unsightly” tents on the south lawn.

“Nobody can argue that this is a good idea or that it befits the presidency of the greatest and most powerful country that has ever existed in history,” he said.

The approval from the NCPC came even after a federal judge issued an order earlier in the week temporarily blocking its construction and any additional demolition of the East Wing, which began in October.

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon wrote in his opinion.

Leon approved a motion for a preliminary injunction halting construction of the ballroom project, stating it “must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.”

That order was issued amid a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation against Trump in December, seeking to halt construction of the ballroom.

According to the complaint, demolition of the East Wing began without the plans being submitted to the NCPC or the Commission of Fine Arts, another body charged by law with reviewing major federal construction in Washington.

The trust also says no environmental assessment or environmental impact statement was released before demolition began, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

In an opposition filed in December, the Justice Department argued that the trust’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction failed because the above-grade demolition the group seeks to stop has already been completed and cannot be undone.

Later in December, the trust said in a court filing that the National Park Service finished the required Environmental Assessment in August but “unlawfully” did not release it until December 15, after lawsuit was filed and the East Wing had already been demolished.

Stories like this take time, documents and a commitment to public transparency. Please support independent arts journalism by subscribing to Urgent Matter and supporting our work directly.