By Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON, April 2 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project is likely to get a blessing from Washington planning authorities on Thursday, two days after a judge ruled work cannot proceed without Congress’ approval.
The National Capital Planning Commission, which is chaired by one of Trump’s former lawyers, will deliberate and then vote on the “East Wing Modernization Project” on Thursday, according to a meeting agenda.
The Republican president says the $400 million, 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom will be a privately financed defining addition to the White House and a lasting symbol of his presidency.
The ballroom is part of Trump’s broader push to reshape Washington’s monumental core, which also includes plans for a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and a multi-year renovation of the Kennedy Center performing arts complex. He has also ripped out and replaced the White House Rose Garden and added a wide array of gilding to the Oval Office.
The commission is one of two federal bodies, along with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, assigned a role in overseeing key D.C.-area building projects.
Trump picked several members of both groups, and his former personal lawyer Will Scharf chairs the National Capital Planning Commission.
The Justice Department appealed Tuesday’s ruling that the president cannot construct his planned ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing without approval from Congress.
The federal judge in the case granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit organization that brought a lawsuit alleging Trump exceeded his authority when he razed the historic East Wing and launched construction on the new building.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
