‘We’re going to wonder why we didn’t do it earlier’: Trump’s White House ballroom gets a stamp of approval

Days after a U.S. district court judge ordered the White House to stop construction on its proposed ballroom expansion, a powerful federal commission just granted the project its formal approval. At the April 2 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), a largely-Trump aligned panel voted with a large majority to support the design of the White House ballroom. Eight of the 11 commissioners at the meeting voted in support. Two commissioners voted “present” and only one, Washington D.C. Council chair Phil Mendelson, voted no. The vote is a crucial approval for the ballroom, known officially as the East Wing Modernization Project. The NCPC is a federal agency overseeing planning and design for federal land and buildings in the Washington D.C. area. Its approval of the project adds legitimacy to a construction project that many, including the recent court ruling, see as an overreach of power by the president. All plans and development proposals for federal prop