Congress Must Investigate The Destruction of the East Wing of the White House

The President Has Destroyed the East Wing The East Wing of the White House – through which millions of visitors have entered over the decades and which had immense historic value – has been destroyed by the president himself. This reckless act of vandalism against a national landmark violates our preservation laws and mocks the idea that the White House belongs to the American people, not to any one occupant. An Outrageous Defiance of Law and Tradition Federal law requires that major construction or demolition on federal property be reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission and evaluated under the National Historic Preservation Act. Those safeguards were enacted precisely to prevent this kind of abuse. None of that happened here. The demolition began without public notice, without hearings, and without transparent review. No ordinary citizen could raze a historic landmark this way – yet a sitting president has done so even after stating that the East Wing would be left intact during construction of his ballroom. When a president unilaterally orders the destruction of a protected structure, it is not leadership – it is vandalism under color of authority, a contemptuous act that defies both law and history. Such defiance sets a precedent that threatens the integrity of all public institutions. A Dangerous Precedent That Cannot Stand If Congress allows this to stand, every future president will claim the same unchecked power to demolish or rebuild any part of the White House. Congress must assert its authority and make clear that the White House is not a personal playground. No one elected to temporary office has the right to treat our nation’s most symbolic building as a private stage for vanity. Congress Must Intervene Immediately Congress should: 1. Launch hearings to determine how this demolition was permitted. 2. Demand disclosure of all funding sources, permits, and contractor agreements. 3. Pass legislation requiring review of any White House alterations under preservation law, regardless of private financing. 4. Assure that new construction conforms to existing laws. 5. Impose additional criminal penalties for willful violations, concealment, and deliberate acts of vandalism. Strengthen Oversight and Safeguards The destruction of the East Wing is a warning that our system has failed. Congress must act to reinforce the checks that prevent any president from bypassing preservation law, ensuring that such acts can never again be carried out in secrecy or impunity.