Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) once again has broken with his fellow Democrats, this time defending President Donald Trump’s plan to add a large ballroom to the White House.
“The plans are going to be done in a tasteful and historical kind of way,” Fetterman said in an interview this week with Fox News Digital. “They’re not putting in a Dave & Buster’s kind of situation here, so I think upgrading some of these facilities seems pretty normal.”
Fetterman, to the surprise of many pundits, has emerged during Trump’s second term as a maverick, a bipartisan-minded Democrat who has backed the president on a variety of issues including Israel, the border, quelling immigration riots, and the administration’s air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Other Democrats have blasted the president’s $200 million ballroom plan, which White House officials say will be paid for by donors and President Trump.
“The project at the White House is a gigantic boondoggle,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told Fox. “The important question is not only the damage that it could do to the architecture of the White House, but also what contributors would have over Trump if they are giving to this project.”
A month ago, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained the need for the ballroom.
Leavitt told reporters, “The White House is one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the world, yet the White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders in other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building’s entrance.”
Trump, too, has complained about the use of a tent, saying, “It’s not a pretty sight” when dignitaries and their wives in “evening gowns and their hair all done” have to walk the distance of a football field away to the location and are “a mess” by the time they get there.
According to the Fox News Digital report, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) appeared to agree in part with his Senate colleague Fetterman by acknowledging that the White House does need event space.
But Coons told the outlet that he doesn’t “know whether he actually has the authority to fundamentally alter the shape and scale of the White House without some White House Historical Association or some architect approving it.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) countered, “There’s nothing in the law that says that.”
In fact, the White House Historical Association has already weighed in and welcomed Trump’s planned ballroom, according to the Hill.
Stewart D. McLaurin, president of the association, told the Hill nearly a month ago:
The history of the White House has evolved over 233 years since the cornerstone was laid in 1792. The South Portico, the North Portico, the East Wing, the West Wing, and the Truman Balcony all raised concerns at the time — but today, we can’t imagine the White House without these iconic elements.
Sen. Cruz called the ballroom a “phenomenal project,” and told Fox Digital that opposition was just another example of Democrats “hating” anything Trump does.
“A ballroom in the White House will be used by presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, and it’s being funded without a penny of taxpayer money,” Cruz said.
Some of the renovations are scheduled to begin in September, according to the White House. The entire project is expected to be completed “long before” the end of Trump’s term, his press secretary has said.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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