Judge rules that White House ballroom construction ‘has to stop!’

Always in His Presence · Apr 2, 2026

Who Approves White House Renovations: Unpacking the Oversight Behind the 2025 East Wing Project

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) reviews major federal construction and alterations in the Washington D.C. region, including changes to properties such as the White House.
The Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) reviews design and aesthetics for federal properties in D.C., including the grounds of the White House.
The Committee for the Preservation of the White House (CPWH) oversees historic-preservation and interior design matters inside the residence and state rooms.
The President and the Executive Office of the President hold ultimate authority over the White House as the President’s residence and workplace.
The White House Historical Association and the Office of the White House Curator contribute to preservation and furnishings, especially on the interior side.

FreeinChrist · Apr 2, 2026

Always in His Presence said:
What laws allow or restrict changes to the White House buildings?

Past presidents have voluntarily submitted their plans for review to the National Capital Planning Commission. But there's nothing requiring it, and Trump chose not to. He's also not using government funds to pay for this renovation; he has solicited donations for it from billionaires and corporations. So Congress doesn't need to apportion funds,

That is just a part of it.

Google AI

As of April 2026, a federal judge has ordered Donald Trump to halt construction of the $400 million White House ballroom, ruling that the administration must obtain express approval from Congress for the project. While the project received final approval from a federal planning commission, the ruling requires legislative authorization to continue.

Announcement re quoting AI

Always in His Presence · Apr 2, 2026

FreeinChrist said:
He demolished the East Wing while Congress was not in session because he wants his way.

Thank you for your opinion -

FreeinChrist said:
That is the behavior of a king. The Republican members of Congress are letting him act like that.

Hogwash. - this is where we differ -

Always in His Presence · Apr 2, 2026

FreeinChrist said:
Announcement re quoting AI

Thank you - now that is fast service. I will keep this in mind

FreeinChrist · Apr 2, 2026

Always in His Presence said:
The Committee for the Preservation of the White House (CPWH) oversees historic-preservation and interior design matters inside the residence and state rooms.

.

That is an organization that did not approve it and is the one suing Trump.

FreeinChrist · Apr 2, 2026

Always in His Presence said:
Thank you for your opinion -

Hogwash. - this is where we differ -

His behaviors give him away.

Always in His Presence · Apr 2, 2026

FreeinChrist said:
His behaviors give him away.

In leadership especial Senior leadership that is often the case. I have personally found that out in real life and even on online sites. Behaviors give leaders away.

Thank you for your insight and opinion once again .

FreeinChrist · Apr 2, 2026

Always in His Presence said:
nor on his - I'm trying to respect the OP and it's author and stay on topic - Elon and building statues is not the topic - is it?

Yes, it was an example where just having the funding is not enough.

essentialsaltes · Apr 4, 2026

Oh. He mad.

EMERGENCY MOTION [2167119] to stay underlying order

The opening pages of the court filing are loaded with exclamation points ("Time is of the essence!"), parenthetical asides, misplaced capital letters ("Almost 400 Million Dollars of private donations") and multiple adjectives for emphasis ("shocking, unprecedented, and improper injunction")

"Private donors and American Patriots singlehandedly funded the 300 to 400 Million Dollar project (depending on finishes), which is on budget and ahead of schedule. No taxpayer dollars are being used for the funding of this beautiful, desperately needed, and completely secure (for national security purposes) ballroom," the filing reads.

Did President Trump have a hand in writing the latest White House East Wing court filing?

Pommer · Apr 4, 2026

Is there a legal-line when a “donation” becomes a “bribe”? AFAF

Aryeh Jay · Apr 5, 2026

Pommer said:
Is there a legal-line when a “donation” becomes a “bribe”? AFAF

When a Democrat accepts it.

DaisyDay · Apr 5, 2026

Pommer said:
Is there a legal-line when a “donation” becomes a “bribe”? AFAF

The money has to be paid out first to be a bribe, otherwise it is a legal gratuity, thank you gift, per SCOTUS Snyder v. United States (2024). Odd ruling, imo.

essentialsaltes · Apr 12, 2026

Appeals court says Trump White House ballroom construction can proceed for now

The appeals court said work on the project can continue until at least April 17. The court sent the case back down to a federal judge who initially ruled against it, saying he needed to look closer at the White House’s argument that construction must continue for national security and safety reasons, and adding that the appeals court couldn’t scrutinize the notion on a “hurried record.”

The two judges who decided to send the case back down were appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The dissenting judge was appointed by Trump during his first term.

Elongated · Apr 12, 2026

iluvatar5150 said:
meh. ok. That doesn't strike me as a bad idea, either. If you can't go up (which you can't in DC) and you can't go out (which you can't really on the site, either), then your only option is down.

I think it’s always a great idea to tell the world where to strike first. It will probably have a large “X” on the roof in honor of Elon Musk.

Desk trauma · Apr 12, 2026

DaisyDay said:
Odd ruling, imo.

Only if you assume good faith which you really should stop doing in this time period.

DaisyDay · Apr 16, 2026

So where did the East Wing go?

My Quest to Find the East Wing Rubble

An entire part of the White House can’t just disappear.

www.theatlantic.com

When the president of the United States decides to demolish the East Wing of the White House to construct a ballroom, all that stucco and molding and wood had to go somewhere. So I tried to find it.

I’d heard that the dirt from the East Wing demolition was being deposited three miles away, on a tree-lined island next to the Jefferson Memorial called East Potomac Park. So yesterday I drove around until I saw trucks and men in construction gear. They were congregating at an entrance to the public East Potomac Golf Links, where rounds of golf carried on as usual, except every few minutes, dump trucks entered the green.

The trucks would cut across the course to a cordoned-off site in the middle, where the grass had been torn away and replaced with piles of dirt. It did not look like much, but several employees at the site confirmed: This was not just any dirt. This was White House dirt. The precursor to the East Wing was constructed during Theodore Roosevelt’s administration in 1902 and updated during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration in the ’40s. Maybe this was not just White House dirt but Roosevelt-era dirt. I gazed upon the golfers going about their games. Do they know, I wondered, that they are in the presence of such particularly American soil?

DaisyDay · May 6, 2026

So, remember the debris from the torn down East Wing being dumped on DC's public golf course?

https://thehill.com/policy/keeping-score/5863909-toxic-soil-golf-course-trump-ballroom/

Soil taken from the White House as part of construction for President Trump’s ballroom project which was dumped at nearby East Potomac Park tested positive for toxic chemicals, according to a new report.

The soil, which was dumped near one of the three golf courses at East Potomac, tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals, The New York Times reported, citing data from the National Park Service (NPS).

Also, the National Parks Service has been warned against cutting down more than ten trees.

DaisyDay · Sunday at 6:00 PM

WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom

White House officials last year secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for the construction of the East Wing ballroom in an unusual arrangement that sidestepped typical contracting procedures designed to control costs, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Washington Post.

The White House routed the contract through the Executive Residence, the document shows, an office that is exempt from rules that require federal agencies to solicit competitive bids and disclose details to the public. The office is typically responsible for routine repairs, entertainment expenses, and the purchase of furniture, art and other items for the executive mansion.

The confidential contract with Clark Construction, along with related correspondence and records obtained by The Post, reveal for the first time how the Trump administration bypassed norms last summer as it set the ballroom project in motion.

Records also show that President Donald Trump was directly involved in negotiating some costs for the project.

What a surprise, another no-bid contract. What may be a surprise is that taxpayer financing in the hundreds of millions had been in the planning all along, despite protestations that it would be all donor-financed.

Belk · Sunday at 10:11 PM

DaisyDay said:
WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom

White House officials last year secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for the construction of the East Wing ballroom in an unusual arrangement that sidestepped typical contracting procedures designed to control costs, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Washington Post.

The White House routed the contract through the Executive Residence, the document shows, an office that is exempt from rules that require federal agencies to solicit competitive bids and disclose details to the public. The office is typically responsible for routine repairs, entertainment expenses, and the purchase of furniture, art and other items for the executive mansion.

The confidential contract with Clark Construction, along with related correspondence and records obtained by The Post, reveal for the first time how the Trump administration bypassed norms last summer as it set the ballroom project in motion.

Records also show that President Donald Trump was directly involved in negotiating some costs for the project.

What a surprise, another no-bid contract. What may be a surprise is that taxpayer financing in the hundreds of millions had been in the planning all along, despite protestations that it would be all donor-financed.

Pommer · Monday at 1:18 AM

DaisyDay said:
WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom

White House officials last year secretly awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for the construction of the East Wing ballroom in an unusual arrangement that sidestepped typical contracting procedures designed to control costs, according to a copy of the agreement obtained by The Washington Post.

The White House routed the contract through the Executive Residence, the document shows, an office that is exempt from rules that require federal agencies to solicit competitive bids and disclose details to the public. The office is typically responsible for routine repairs, entertainment expenses, and the purchase of furniture, art and other items for the executive mansion.

The confidential contract with Clark Construction, along with related correspondence and records obtained by The Post, reveal for the first time how the Trump administration bypassed norms last summer as it set the ballroom project in motion.

Records also show that President Donald Trump was directly involved in negotiating some costs for the project.

What a surprise, another no-bid contract. What may be a surprise is that taxpayer financing in the hundreds of millions had been in the planning all along, despite protestations that it would be all donor-financed.

The Trump Administration is dedicated to doing things “fast”; the East Wing would take 11 years to build if they followed the various rules and laws and that get in the way of “fast”.

I’m not sure just how I feel about this yet, but the bumbling-plodding nature of government (in general), is both a feature and a bug.

It’s a feature when it prevents decision-makers from making rash judgements, (like, say, tearing down a third of the White House), before plans are all in place and everything is “ready to go”.

(It’s a bug when like, say, California has been wanting to build a high speed rail line and various lawsuits have kept that dream in dreamland for decades.)

Since the East Wing is history, “it has to be done fast” gets a bit more weighty.

Judge rules that White House ballroom construction ‘has to stop!’

Jesus is the only Way

CF Advisory team

What laws allow or restrict changes to the White House buildings?​

Jesus is the only Way

Jesus is the only Way

CF Advisory team

CF Advisory team

Jesus is the only Way

CF Advisory team

Fact-Based Lifeform

Did President Trump have a hand in writing the latest White House East Wing court filing?​

Future History Slab Carver

Stuck on a ship.

I Did Nothing Wrong!! ~~Team Deep State

Fact-Based Lifeform

Appeals court says Trump White House ballroom construction can proceed for now​

You can kill people but you can’t kill ideas.

[redacted]

I Did Nothing Wrong!! ~~Team Deep State

I Did Nothing Wrong!! ~~Team Deep State

I Did Nothing Wrong!! ~~Team Deep State

WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom​

Senior Member

WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom​

Future History Slab Carver

WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom​

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WaPo: Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom