More than two dozen experts have sued to stop the Donald Trump EBOB painting project, even as the White House Office of Administration began preparing to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white. Heather Martin filed a declaration on Monday saying the work was starting. The case now sits alongside a broader fight over who controls review of the building.
Heather Martin declaration
Martin, a deputy assistant to the president, said the White House Office of Administration was beginning preparations for the paint job. The experts challenging the plan say the paint could irreversibly damage the stone and turn into a taxpayers’ nightmare because the building would have to be repaired and repainted regularly.
The building at issue is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and the administration has not backed away from the plan. The lawsuit seeks to stop the work before those preparations become paint on the stone.
White House and GSA control
The administration is arguing that the General Services Administration has ceded control of the building to the White House Office of Administration. A White House official told Philip Kennicott that the White House conducts necessary reviews and that taking over for the General Services Administration allows the White House to more efficiently and economically manage the project.
That transfer of authority is the pivot in the dispute. The General Services Administration normally handles maintenance of federal buildings and follows the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Those laws do not apply to the White House Office of Administration.
Greg Werkheiser warning
Greg Werkheiser, a lawyer with Cultural Heritage Partners, said, "The precedent is potentially devastating. Anytime the president takes a personal interest in a project, he can simply pluck it out of an agency that is subject to review and put it in his own shop."
Brent Leggs, chief executive officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, separately warned that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s proposed changes to Section 106 would "eviscerate the preservation of our shared civic and cultural heritage in the United States." He said the changes would mean federal agencies no longer would have to avoid or minimize damage to historic sites and landscapes or seek public input on federal projects that would affect historic places.
Advisory Council revisions
On Friday, July 17, the chair proposed dramatic revisions to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Yesterday the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted to move the revisions forward. The 24-member board is packed with 21 Trump appointees, and the National Register of Historic Places lists more than 100,000 properties.
The lawsuit and the revisions now run on parallel tracks. If the administration’s authority argument prevails, the paint job would stay inside the White House Office of Administration’s control and outside the usual preservation review process.
