Panel reviewing Trump’s $400m White House ballroom postpones vote | Donald Trump
A federal committee reviewing Donald Trump’s planned $400 million ballroom addition to the White House has postponed a planned vote on the project until next month after receiving thousands of negative public comments.
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) was scheduled to vote on the proposal Thursday, but the commission chair announced at the start of the meeting that the vote would now take place on April 2, citing the “large amount of public comments” submitted during the public comment period.
“We’re going to take time to deliberate and we’ll have a final vote on April 2,” Will Scharf, NCPC chairman and top Trump aide, said Thursday at the start of the meeting, according to CNN.
Before the meeting, the commission released more than 9,000 pages of public comments received on the project. The commission said more than 35,000 people submitted written comments, with the majority opposing Trump’s plan to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood, and condemning the demolition of the East Wing, which began in October.
At the time, White House officials argued that the demolition did not require commission approval and said they would present plans for any construction proposals to the appropriate committees. Trump said the ballroom would cost about $400 million and would be financed by private donations.
A recent New York Times analysis found that more than 98 percent of approximately 32,000 comments submitted opposed the project, with respondents calling the proposed design “garish and cheap.”
Later Thursday, NBC reported that Scharf disputed reports that the ballroom vote had been delayed, saying the commission’s plan “has been to have a final vote on this project on April 2 for some time.” A White House official also said the committee “still” intends to vote at its next meeting.
In a statement to the Guardian, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said “the White House is grateful for all the hard work and time spent by the National Capital Planning Commission in reviewing plans for what will be the largest and most beautiful ballroom in the world.”
“We look forward to receiving final approval from the NCPC in early April,” he added.
In a statement to the New York Times, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the negative comments submitted about the ballroom “clearly stem from an organized campaign of liberals deranged by Trump who clearly have neither style nor taste.”
The postponed vote comes as Trump has appointed allies to positions on the NCPC commission. Earlier this week, NCPC’s executive director issued a recommendation that the commission “approve preliminary and final site and construction plans for the East Wing Modernization Project, located on the White House grounds.”
The Commission of Fine Arts, which is also responsible for reviewing the ballroom plans and where Trump has also installed loyalists, voted in favor of the ballroom project last month.
Historic preservation groups sued and tried to stop the project. In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block construction of the new ballroom, arguing that the administration violated several laws by demolishing portions of the White House “without any review.”
A federal judge refused to temporarily halt construction last week. The group announced its intention to file an amended complaint.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
