White House ballroom plans APPROVED despite judge blocking TRUMP CONSTRUCTION

The National Capital Planning Commission approved President Donald Trump's plans to build a new White House ballroom on Thursday.

Commission members approved the design and planning of the East Wing Modernization Project, a proposal aimed at updating and improving parts of the White House’s East Wing.

Will Scharf, the chair of the commission, said he read every comment submitted to NCPC about the ballroom, saying most of the comments "dealt with issues beyond the scope of this commission.”

"Considering issues of this sort is not within our mandate," Scharf said. "We are not some sort of free-ranging ballroom justice commission."

A member of the commission and chairman of the D.C. Council, Phil Mendelson, strongly opposed the ballroom's plans, saying that it was “just too large.”

Mendelson was the only commission member to vote against the ballroom plans. Several other members chose to abstain from voting yes or no.

The East Wing project is part of ongoing efforts to maintain and modernize key government facilities while preserving their historic character.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered that construction on President Donald Trump's $400 million White House ballroom installation be halted, saying work must stop until the project gets approval from Congress.

The president previously described the ballroom as a "beautiful building," noting that it will replace "the very small, dilapidated, and rebuilt many times, East Wing, with a magnificent New East Wing."

#trump #whitehouse #ballroom #construction #news

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