Congress Must Protect Washington, DC From Permanent Architectural Damage

As a constituent, I write because major and contested changes to Washington, D.C.’s historic landscape are being actively advanced now, and once built, they cannot be undone. I urge Congress to intervene immediately while effective oversight is still possible. IRREVERSIBLE CHANGES ARE ADVANCING AND REQUIRE IMMEDIATE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION Recent reporting, including “Trump’s Washington Would Be Bigger, Bolder and Much More Trump” by Philip Kennicott (Washington Post, March 23, 2026), describes proposals such as a large White House ballroom and a major commemorative arch. These projects would reshape historically protected federal spaces and alter long-established sightlines around the White House and surrounding grounds. Once constructed, these changes cannot be reversed. CONGRESS HAS THE AUTHORITY, THE TOOLS, AND THE RESPONSIBILITY TO INTERVENE Congress controls federal land policy, appropriations, and oversight of executive action, including through committees with jurisdiction over federal property and spending. It also has the power to condition or restrict funding to ensure compliance with statutory protections and established planning processes. That authority must be exercised now. ACTIVE LEGAL CHALLENGES AND REVIEW PROCEEDINGS MAKE THIS A TIME-SENSITIVE ISSUE Litigation is underway and preservation bodies have raised formal objections, placing these proposals in an active decision window. This is precisely when Congressional oversight is most effective and most necessary. THE DESIGN OF WASHINGTON IS A SHARED NATIONAL HERITAGE THAT BELONGS TO EVERY AMERICAN The capital’s architecture reflects generations of deliberate planning grounded in democratic values, balance, and civic symbolism. It is a shared national inheritance, not a platform for unilateral transformation or legacy-driven projects that would disrupt historic settings and diminish nationally significant spaces. CONGRESS MUST TAKE DECISIVE AND TARGETED ACTION NOW I request that Congress: • Convene immediate oversight hearings through committees with jurisdiction over federal land and appropriations • Use appropriations authority, including funding conditions or restrictions, to pause major projects pending full legal and procedural review • Require comprehensive public disclosure of all plans, approvals, and funding mechanisms • Reinforce statutory protections and the authority of independent review bodies • Enact legislation defining enforceable limits on unilateral executive alterations to historic federal sites FAILURE TO ACT NOW WILL RESULT IN PERMANENT AND PRECEDENT-SETTING DAMAGE If these projects proceed without full scrutiny, they will permanently alter the nation’s capital and establish a precedent for future unilateral transformations. Congress alone has the authority to prevent this outcome, and the responsibility to act now. Thank you.