Judge rules Trump can begin paint tests on 19th-century building after preservation groups sued
A federal judge on Tuesday cleared the Trump administration to begin limited paint testing on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the ornate former State, War, and Navy Building constructed in the late 1800s beside the White House. U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich denied the preservation group known as Cultural Heritage Partners’ request for an emergency order blocking the preliminary […]
A federal judge on Tuesday cleared the Trump administration to begin limited paint testing on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the ornate former State, War, and Navy Building constructed in the late 1800s beside the White House.
U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich denied the preservation group known as Cultural Heritage Partners’ request for an emergency order blocking the preliminary testing tied to President Donald Trump’s plan to repaint the historic landmark white. The group initially filed a lawsuit against the administration in November last year, the same month Trump announced plans to paint what he called the “ugly” granite interior of the building.
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The ruling does not decide whether the administration may ultimately carry out the full project. Instead, Friedrich found that the plaintiffs had not shown the narrowly tailored tests would cause irreparable harm before the court could consider their wider challenge.
“The plaintiffs’ motion rises and falls on irreparable harm,” Friedrich, an appointee of Trump, said from the bench.
The paint tests are expected to cover roughly 8 square feet of the building’s exterior, with other work occurring on panels that are not visible to the public, according to Friedrich. She warned that the court could intervene if the administration exceeded the limited scope of the testing and directed the parties to submit a status report by next Tuesday, followed by regular updates.
Larger authority dispute remains
The preservation groups, architects, and historians challenging the project contend that coating the granite façade could trap moisture and damage the stone. They had sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop testing and other preparatory activity.
But the central dispute is larger than the paint samples themselves. It involves whether the General Services Administration can transfer authority over the project to the Executive Office of the President.
Gregory Werkheiser, an attorney at Cultural Heritage Partners representing one of the plaintiffs, said the ruling did not resolve the case’s underlying concern.
“The reasons we brought this case are untouched by today’s decision,” Werkheiser said. “The larger issue” is whether the president “has taken power illegally from the GSA and put it in his office in terms of this project and the implications of that.”
Werkheiser said a ruling endorsing that transfer of authority could carry consequences for historic properties nationwide.
The Trump administration has framed the paint proposal as part of the president’s broader effort to remake and beautify Washington. Its project submission says the building’s stained granite and years of limited exterior maintenance have diminished its appearance, while painting would provide a repeatable way to maintain a uniform color.
Planning materials put the overall cost of the work at no less than $7.5 million.
Friedrich’s ruling came as the administration separately seeks Supreme Court permission to continue work on Trump’s planned $400 million White House ballroom. The National Trust for Historic Preservation on Tuesday urged the justices to keep construction paused while they consider the administration’s request, according to a brief filed on the high court’s docket.
The dispute concerns a proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom and follows the demolition of the White House’s East Wing. A divided appeals court panel upheld an order halting above-ground construction, but that ruling was suspended while the administration appealed.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush who issued the underlying order, wrote that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.” The administration has countered that the president has broad authority to renovate the White House and that leaving the project as an open construction site poses security concerns. It also argues that the National Trust lacks standing to sue.
