Trump quietly appoints 4 members to commission that will review his White House ballroom plan
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump Four new members were quietly appointed to the Fine Arts Commission this week, one of two federal panels He is reviewing a plan to build a ballroom in the White House.
The Republican president has been talking about building a ballroom at the White House for years, and completion of the proposed 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) addition will not only change the mansion’s public face forever, but will remain a lasting legacy for Trump for decades to come.
One of the new members James McCreryArchitect who led $400 million ballroom project until Trump replaced him late last year. The White House has said the project will be funded by private donations, including from Trump himself, and that the East Wing has already been demolished to make room for the ballroom.
National Trust for Historic Preservation He filed a lawsuit in federal court to halt construction until the Board of Fine Arts and the second federal commission gave approval. The four new members were announced in court documents filed Thursday by a White House official in the case. The White House did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
The new appointments will give the Fine Arts Commission a quorum, or enough members, to conduct business at the meeting scheduled for Jan. 22, where the so-called East Wing Modernization project is on the agenda. The panel was planned to meet last week, but could not be held due to the lack of new members.
The commission did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
The panel normally has seven members but has not been able to meet for months. Trump fired six commissioners after the East Wing was demolished last fall. A seventh commissioner, who chaired the panel, resigned after Trump took office last year because their terms expired.
The White House is tentatively scheduled to formally present the project to the commission on Feb. 19 and March 19, at which time the panel could complete its review, Heather Martin, assistant to the president, said in court documents.
National Trust for Historic Preservation blames Trump administration violate federal laws by launching the project before submitting it to independent review by committees, Congress, and the public.
In addition to architect McCrery, who served on the commission as a Trump appointee from 2019 to 2024, the commission includes Mary Anne Carter of Tennessee; Roger Kimball of Connecticut; and Matthew Taylor of Washington, D.C.
Carter is president of the National Endowment for the Arts, which he also ran during Trump’s first term. He is a former employee of Rick Scott, the former governor of Florida and current U.S. senator from the state. Kimball is an art critic and conservative commentator.
The National Capital Planning Commission, the second federal panel that oversees construction on federal lands, including the White House grounds, heard an initial hearing. presentation about ballroom At its meeting on January 8.
