Whitehouse, Garcia, Huffman Lead 143 Members in Filing Amicus Brief to Block Construction of Trump’s Illegal Ballroom

“The President cannot undertake any construction at the White House—much less demolish one of its wings—without clear authorization from Congress, as well as an appropriation of funds to do so,” wrote the lawmakers

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW); Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; and Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, led 143 Members of Congress in submitting an amicus brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in the case of National Trust For Historic Preservation In The United States v. National Park Service et al.  The brief challenged President Trump’s illegal demolition of the White House East Wing and urged the court to stop the Trump Administration from illegally constructing a massive billion-dollar ballroom.

“Senate Democrats were able to knock taxpayer funding for Republicans’ gilded ballroom out of the reconciliation bill, but the law is clear that the entire project is illegal,” said Whitehouse. 

“While working families are told there’s no money for affordable housing, healthcare, or lowering everyday costs, President Trump is building a billion-dollar ballroom.  Everyone should be disgusted by his illegal and unconstitutional vanity project.  We are fighting this in court,” said Garcia.

“Donald Trump looked at a country full of people working hard and still falling behind, and he decided what America needed was a gaudy ballroom. Now he is reaching into the pockets of working families for crystal chandeliers and gold trim while Americans are told to tighten their belts.  The White House does not belong to Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies.  We are fighting this in court,” said Huffman.

The Constitution grants Congress, not the President, exclusive power to determine when and if federal property should be constructed, renovated, or demolished.  “Whereas the President lives in the White House for only a finite period while in office, the Constitution entrusts Congress, acting for the people, with making long-term decisions about the ‘People’s House’ …. Allowing the President to demolish an entire wing of the White House and rebuild it to his liking, while entirely bypassing Congress’s constitutional role and ignoring express statutory prohibition, disrupts the balance of powers put in place by the nation’s Framers,” wrote the lawmakers in the brief.

As the lawmakers pointed out, Congress alone holds the power to authorize and appropriate funds before any project begins.  Congress never authorized or funded the demolition of the East Wing or the construction of Trump’s ballroom in its stead.  The Administration’s “actions infringe on Congress’s authority, seizing for the President legislative power the Constitution reserves to Congress and violating the constitutional separation of powers,” wrote the lawmakers.

The lawmakers concluded, “The President cannot undertake any construction at the White House—much less demolish one of its wings—without clear authorization from Congress, as well as an appropriation of funds to do so.  Here, Congress neither authorized the demolition and reconstruction of the East Wing nor appropriated funds necessary for that project.”

The brief was also signed by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with 132 members of the House.

Full text of the brief is available here.