The National Capital Planning Commission, the agency tasked with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region, went ahead with the vote because U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling, which came two days earlier, affects construction activities but not the planning process, a spokesman for the commission said before the vote was taken.
The motion was approved by a vote of 8-1 with two commissioners voting present and one absent.
Before the vote, commission chairman Will Scharf, a top aide in Trump's White House, noted that Leon's order has been stayed for two weeks as the administration seeks an appeal. He said, as he understood the decision, it “really does not impact our action here today.”
Scharf, reading from notes, delivered a lengthy and impassioned, pre-vote defense of the project that reviewed the entire history of the White House — including changes and additions that were criticized at the time they were made but have become beloved with the passage of time. He spoke about the addition of the north and south porticos and the balcony added by President Harry Truman.
Scharf suggested that Trump’s proposed ballroom will similarly come to be viewed as a wise addition — despite drawing contemporary opposition from some members of the public and government officials.
“I believe that, in time, this ballroom will be considered every bit of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House,” Scharf said.
