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The White House has dismantled an agency tasked with reviewing President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., construction projects.
All six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency established by Congress in 1910, have been fired, The Washington Post first reported.
The agency was expected to review Trump’s planned “triumphal arch” that would be built in the nation’s capital.
Along with the possible arch, Trump has demolished the White House’s East Wing to build a $300 million ballroom and replaced the garden in the Rose Garden with concrete and patio seating.
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the Commission on Fine Arts is terminated, effective immediately,” an email reviewed by The Post that was sent to one of the fired staffers said.
The agency’s role is to advise the president, Congress, and local government officials on design and preservation in the capital region.
Previous administrations have typically sought the agency’s approval for major construction projects.
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A White House official confirmed to the newspaper that replacements for the current commissioners, appointed by former President Joe Biden on four-year terms, would be chosen from a slate “more aligned with President Trump’s ‘America First’ policies.”
Earlier this month, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit created by Congress to help preserve historic buildings, warned that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom would “overwhelm the White House itself,” which is about 55,000 square feet.
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