WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – A preservation group on Friday sued U.S. President Donald Trump and several federal agencies to block construction of a $300 million ballroom at the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said he will hold a hearing on Tuesday to weigh the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s bid for a temporary order stopping construction.
The nonprofit filed the lawsuit in the federal court in Washington, saying the 90,000-square-foot project was proceeding without legally required reviews or approvals.
“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,” the lawsuit said.
The ballroom project is among several sweeping changes the Republican president has made to the White House since he returned to office in January. Trump installed gold decorations throughout the Oval Office, and he paved over the lawn of the Rose Garden to create a patio similar to the setting at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement that “President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House — just like all of his predecessors did.”
The lawsuit said Trump never gathered public input and ignored statutes requiring consultation with the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts before tearing down the East Wing and starting work on the massive ballroom.
“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,” Carol Quillen, president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in a statement.
The preservation group asked the Washington court to order a halt to construction until federal agencies complete environmental reviews, federal commissions approve the plans and Congress authorizes the project.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Lisa Shumaker)
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