Overview
- The White House confirmed it dismissed members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts that had been reviewing the proposal, after the Washington Post reported all six Biden appointees were removed, a detail officials did not clarify.
- Officials said the administration will submit the ballroom plans to the National Capital Planning Commission for approval and declined to say whether the design will also go back to the Fine Arts panel.
- Senator Adam Schiff sought a full accounting of funding sources and warned about potential selling of access, requested a Government Accountability Office review, and set a November 5 deadline, while Senator Richard Blumenthal pressed contractors for records by November 6.
- Recent reporting places the project’s cost at about $300 million, up from a July estimate of $200 million, with a design near the East Wing reportedly accommodating roughly 650 people as polling shows majority opposition to demolishing the wing.
- Experts point to a 1947 Truman-era precedent underscoring the Fine Arts panel’s advisory status, which the administration could cite to proceed without its approval.