Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Senate Democrats are requesting an audit of spending on the White House East Wing and ballroom, saying in a letter Wednesday that the Trump administration’s handling of the project raises “serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and stewardship of this national landmark.”
The D.C. Circuit Court ruled Friday that Trump needed congressional approval to continue work on the ballroom, setting up a likely Supreme Court showdown.
For months, President Donald Trump said the project would be fully funded by private donors; more recently, he has said that taxpayers will be paying for major security components of the East Wing. The White House maintains that the ballroom itself will be privately funded.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post, citing confidential contracts and other documents, reported that the administration is now planning to spend at least $927 million on White House campus projects, including the East Wing, with most of the money coming from taxpayers. Over $500 million of that is coming from the Secret Service and the White House Military Office, records show.
In their letter to the Government Accountability Office, an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress, the eight senators took issue with the administration using public funds in ways that they say Congress did not approve.
Led by Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, the lawmakers said the administration has not “provided any planning details or justifications that would allow for informed consideration of the White House’s plans that would be a prerequisite for authorization or appropriation of funds.”
In a statement to The Post, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that the renovations are “long-overdue and necessary.”
In response to questions from The Post for its report Wednesday, the White House did not give a tally of the total expected construction costs or funding sources but said all the public dollars were being spent in a “manner consistent with” Congress’s original intent.
The Circuit Court decision halts East Wing construction but does not go into effect until 14 days from the Aug. 7 ruling, giving the administration time to appeal.
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