A federal panel reviewing Donald Trump’s planned $400 million ballroom addition to the White House has postponed a planned vote on the project until next month after receiving thousands of negative public comments.
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) was expected to take a final vote on the proposal on Thursday, but instead the commission chair announced at the beginning of the meeting that the vote would now take place on April 2, citing the “vast amount of public input” submitted during the public comment period.
“We’re going to take the time to deliberate and we’re going to have a final vote on April 2,” Will Scharf, NCPC chairman and Trump’s top adviser, said Thursday as the meeting began, according to CNN.
Before the meeting, the commission released more than 9,000 pages of public comments it received on the project. The commission has said more than 35,000 people had submitted written comments, with most opposing Trump’s plans to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood, and condemning the demolition of the East Wing, which began in October.
At the time, White House officials argued that demolition did not require commission approval and said they would submit plans for any construction proposals to the appropriate commissions. Trump has said the ballroom would cost about $400 million and would be funded by private donations.
A recent New York Times analysis found that more than 98% of the roughly 32,000 comments submitted opposed the plan, with respondents describing the proposed design as “flashy and cheap.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Guardian about the delay in the vote.
In a statement to the New York Times, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the negative comments sent about the ballroom “clearly come from an organized campaign of deranged Trump liberals who clearly have no style or taste.”
The postponed vote comes as Trump has appointed allies to positions on the NCPC commission. Earlier this week, the NCPC’s executive director released a recommendation that the commission “approve the preliminary and final site and construction plans for the East Wing Modernization Project, located on the White House grounds.”
The Fine Arts Commission, which is also tasked with reviewing plans for the ballroom and where Trump has also installed his loyalists, voted to approve the ballroom project last month.
Historic preservation groups have sued and tried to stop the project. In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit, seeking to block construction of the new ballroom, arguing that the administration violated multiple laws by tearing down parts of the White House “without any review.”
A federal judge refused to temporarily halt construction last week. The group has said it plans to file an amended complaint.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
