WASHINGTON (AP) — They are divided along party lines. They disagree about the government shutdown. And now federal lawmakers are divided over demolishing the East Wing of the White House to make way for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom that President Donald Trump wants to build.
The stunning images of the demolition this week have outraged Democratic lawmakers. Republicans, meanwhile, liken it to a long series of White House renovations over the years. There was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s swimming pool addition, which is now covered, they said. There was Barack Obama’s basketball court, a tennis court converted to be used for tennis and basketball. And William Taft added the Oval Office, noted Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
“The ballroom will be gorgeous,” Johnson said.
On the other side of the Capitol, Democratic senators incorporated the tear-off photos into Sen. Jeff Merkley’s more than 22-hour speech on the Senate floor.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., showed Merkley a picture of the destroyed East Wing and asked the Oregon senator to describe what he saw and what it meant.
“Here we have evidence that the president tore down a symbol of our republic and erected a symbol that is really a symbol of authoritarian power, of a government that serves the rich,” Merkley said.
Trump says the White House needs a huge entertainment room and complained that the East Room, currently the largest room in the White House, is too petite – it holds about 200 people. He disapproves of the past practice of presidents holding state dinners and other huge events in tents on the South Lawn.
The White House has said the ballroom will be ready well before the end of Trump’s term in January 2029, an ambitious schedule. Trump said “me and some friends of mine” would pay for the ballroom at no cost to taxpayers.
The East Wing was added to the White House in 1942 to accommodate additional staff and offices. The White House Historical Association says the construction was controversial because of its timing during the war. Republicans in Congress called the spending wasteful, and some accused Roosevelt of using the project to boost the image of his presidency.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tried to link the president’s work in the East Wing to the current government shutdown in his opening statement on the Senate floor Wednesday. He said Trump was focused not on addressing the issue of looming health insurance for millions of Americans, but on “vanity projects like this that do nothing to benefit the American people. They only benefit Trump and his ego.”
Republican senators were at times dismissive when asked questions about the demolition of the East Wing. Asked whether he welcomed the renovations, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., replied: “I’m not particularly interested in architecture. I’m not a very good architect.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said the difference between Trump’s ballroom and a litany of previous construction projects he told reporters was that taxpayers wouldn’t fund this one.
“I mean, you have a contractor who has a flair for construction and excellence. What better person would you want to renovate the White House?” Mullin said.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut objected to Republicans comparing the ballroom to other renovation projects over the years.
“They filled up the pool. They may have destroyed a bowling alley. They didn’t irrevocably destroy an entire wing of the White House,” Blumenthal said. “…I just find it heartbreaking.”
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An earlier version of this story identified Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader. He is the Democratic leader in the Senate.
