1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Take action to stop the permanent fencing of Lafayette Park and the unchecked demolition of historic White House structures. Lafayette Park has served as America's premier protest ground since suffragists picketed there in 1917. Courts at every level have affirmed its role as a place where people exercise First Amendment rights. Closing it permanently is not a security upgrade — it's a calculated move to silence dissent 500 feet from the president's window. The destruction goes beyond the park. Trump secretly leveled the historic East Wing in October 2025 and is replacing it with a 90,000 square-foot ballroom that will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions — despite promises of full private funding. He paved over Jacqueline Kennedy's Rose Garden. He renovated the North Portico without approval. These are not routine updates; they are the erasure of shared American history to serve one man's ego. Congress has oversight authority over federal property and public spaces in Washington. Use it. Demand a full accounting of White House renovation costs, block the permanent fencing plan currently before the Commission of Fine Arts, and restore public access to Lafayette Park. The People's House belongs to the people — not to whoever happens to be living there.