KICKED OUT

Trump Fires Entire Agency Reviewing His Tacky D.C. Makeover

“Were it not for today’s terminations, CFA would look forward to a full review of the plans for the new structure that will replace the East Wing,” one commissioner said.

President Donald Trump has taken a wrecking ball to an independent federal agency tasked with reviewing his massive construction projects.

The White House has terminated all members of the Commission of Fine Arts, whose job it is to advise the president, Congress, and local governments on “matters of design and aesthetics.”

“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,” read an email sent to one of the commissioners and obtained by The Washington Post, which first reported the firings.

The CFA is composed of seven members, but one seat has been vacant. Commissioners are appointed by the president and serve four-year terms without compensation.

President Joe Biden appointed Peter Cook, Hazel Edwards, Justin Moore, and Billie Tsien in 2021, as well as Bruce Becker and William Lenihan in 2024. Tsien resigned earlier this year because her term expired in May and she did not expect Trump to reappoint her, according to the Post.

The commission reviews proposed designs for memorials, government buildings, coins, medals, and privately owned properties in certain parts of Washington, “as they affect the federal interest and preserve the dignity of the nation’s capital.”

The White House previously declined to comment on whether it intended to send the plans for Trump’s swanky ballroom to the CFA, and whether a green light from the commission is required. An official told The Post that “all necessary agencies and entities who need to review the project” were being consulted.

Though the commission traditionally reviews any new construction at the White House, architectural experts told the Post that Trump may use a precedent set by former President Harry Truman to sidestep its scrutiny of his ballroom. In 1947, the CFA said it could only serve in an “advisory” capacity to the president, allowing Truman to proceed with adding a balcony to the White House.

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Last week, the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation penned a letter urging the Trump administration to halt the teardown of the 123-year-old East Wing until plans for the president’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom undergo “the legally required public review processes, including consultation and review by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts.”

“These processes provide a crucial opportunity for transparency and broad engagement—values that have guided preservation of the White House under every administration going back to the public competition in 1792 that produced the building’s original design,” the group said.

Becker, one of two commissioners appointed by Biden last year, expressed concern over the demolition of the East Wing without a review by the CFA.

“Were it not for today’s terminations, CFA would look forward to a full review of the plans for the new structure that will replace the East Wing,” Becker told the Post.

Some of the fired commissioners had also expected to play a role in reviewing the design for Trump’s triumphal arch project, according to the outlet, which will be built on federal land at the end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge and is therefore not exempt from standard review processes.

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But Trump appears to have geared up for a review of his construction projects by stacking the National Capital Planning Commission with his allies.

The 12-member board is led by White House staff secretary Will Scharf. Members include Cabinet secretaries Pete Hegseth and Doug Burgum, as well as Republican lawmakers Rand Paul and James Comer, though these officials typically send representatives in their stead.

“Construction plans have not yet been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission but will be soon,” a White House official told Reuters of the ballroom last week.

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