Fine Arts Commission delays review of Trump White House ballroom

The Commission of Fine Arts has postponed a planned review of President Trump’s new White House ballroom because he has not appointed new members to the panel to replace the ones he fired months ago, the agency said. The White House dismissed all six members of the independent agency in October, saying it would name replacements who shared Mr.

Trump’s “America First” agenda, but it has not done so. The panel had been scheduled to meet Thursday and had an “information presentation” about the ballroom on the agenda; the review was pushed back a week to give the president more time to handpick members, according to the agency.

In October, Mr. Trump demolished one side of the White House’s East Wing to make way for the ballroom, at a time when no construction plans had been submitted to oversight authorities. Preservationists have pressed the administration to submit the project for formal review, and a federal judge allowed the project to proceed because of the administration’s pledges to undergo review.

Last week, the ballroom’s architect, Shalom Baranes, presented preliminary plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, where members raised questions about the ballroom’s size; Phil Mendelson, chairman of the D.C. City Council, said, “It still seems to me it’s overwhelming the existing building.” Mr.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, White House, East Wing, Shalom Baranes