Leftist outrage over the president’s efforts at Washington, D.C., beautification came as the chief executive terminated an entire commission in his latest move based on Democrat precedent.
With a business career forged in impacting skylines in multiple cities, President Donald Trump’s savvy for tackling construction projects came to bear in the nation’s capital. After razing the East Wing to make way for the White House Ballroom and ahead of plans for a “triumphal arch” and more, all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) were “terminated, effective immediately,” to appoint America First replacements.
The terminations were reported by the Washington Post, which shared a statement from the White House that explained, “We are preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s America First Policies.”
The six members were said to have been notified by an email that read, “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the Commission of Fine Arts is terminated, effective immediately.”
Terminated CFA member Bruce Becker, an architect, told the Post, “Were it not for today’s terminations, CFA would look forward to a full review of the plans for the new structure that will replace the East Wing.”
Of course, while the firings are likely to rile the Trump Derangement Syndrome suffering in the same way Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “clean sweep” of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CD) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had riled devotees of The Scienceâ„¢, the newspaper didn’t stray from reporting that then-President Joe Biden set the precedent.
In 2021, he became the first chief executive to fire the term-limited commissioners from the panel established by Congress in 1910. Broad efforts in promoting DEI saw Trump appointees removed from the commission, which had seen its scope grow from advising on statues and monuments to other structures on public lands in Washington, D.C.
Among the Biden appointees, architect Billie Tsien, one of those working on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, had voluntarily resigned ahead of her term expiring in May under the assumption that Trump would not reappoint her.
Last week, Trump joined in ridiculing the hideous monolith overlooking Lake Michigan as “not too pretty” when he pointed out that his predecessor “wanted only women in DEI to build it. That’s what they got.”
‘He needs help’: Trump mocks Obama presidential library in wake of online ridicule https://t.co/vKbYow6h3o
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) October 22, 2025
As for the goings on in D.C., the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) called on the administration to halt projects until after review by the CFA and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), to which Trump had appointed three new members in July, including current Chair Will Scharf.
Despite the uproar over the president’s demolition of the East Wing, the White House indicated the NCPC was expected to review plans for the ballroom and arch. Further, regarding the NTHP’s expectation that the CFA review the projects, the Post reported that precedent had been set in 1947, bypassing that as well.
At the time, the CFA’s chairman informed that the panel strictly served an “advisory” role regarding 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and President Harry Truman had gone ahead and added the second-floor balcony to the White House’s south portico.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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