A federal commission dominated by Donald Trump‘s appointees sped through approval of his massive new ballroom to replace the East Wing, torn down last year as the president made the project a priority.
The Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve the project, even though the meeting on Thursday was supposed to be on the design and a final decision next month, per the AP. Six of the seven commissioners voted for the project, with one, James McCrery, not voting because he was the original architect.
The new East Wing will be 89,000 square feet, far larger than the old, and bigger than the White House itself, which is 55,000 square feet. The plans also include a new colonnade, giving access from the East Room to the ballroom, as well as a new White House theater.
At the meeting, Commission of Fine Arts Secretary Thomas Luebke said that the vast majority of public comments about the new project were negative, per the Daily Mail. Some architecture groups have warned that the new East Wing will destroy the design balance, as it will dominate one side of the White House grounds.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to stop the project, claiming that the Trump administration failed to go through a thorough review process, including congressional authorization. A judge has yet to issue a ruling.
Last fall, the Trump administration tore down the East Wing and colonnade and removed the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. The demolition came as a surprise to many, albeit the White House Historical Association, a private foundation dedicated to preserving White House history, was aware of the project but did not raise public objections, saying that it does not have a role in reviewing physical changes to the building.
The ballroom project is being financed by corporate and other private donations, including Comcast, Amazon and Meta.
The project is next scheduled to go before the National Capital Planning Commission, which is also led by a Trump appointee.
Trump fired all of the members of the Commission of Fine Arts last October and installed his own appointees.
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