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Rep. Jamie Raskin Introducing Legislation to Protect Against White House’s Marie Antoinette Ballroom

How many scandals have we had since the demolition of the East Wing to make room for the new White House ballroom? That led the news cycle for a week, until the next "scandal" came along.

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Rep. Jamie Raskin still has his panties in a wad over the ballroom, which Rep. Eric Swalwell says any Democratic presidential contender in 2028 must pledge to tear down. Raskin told CBS News he's introducing legislation to protect against the construction of President Donald Trump's "Marie Antoinette ballroom."

The ballroom will also belong to the people. We're sure the next Democratic president will hold state events there instead of outside under tents equipped with port-a-potties.

CBS News reports:

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would subject White House renovations like President Trump's ballroom project to the same reviews as other federal projects. Currently, the White House is exempt from certain oversight under the National Historic Preservation Act.

"It's kings who treat public property as private property," Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told CBS News in a phone interview. "It's not his house; it's our house. And if there is going to be construction and renovation expansion or changes, that should go through a regular public process."

The White House asserts Mr. Trump has "full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House."

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What "regular public process"? The White House is right: the president has full authority to renovate the White House.

Raskin argues that "leveling the East Wing without a review process was a violation of destruction of federal property laws, though he acknowledges the president cannot be prosecuted under those statutes."

We wouldn't say that the basketball court preserved the building's historic character.

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We're sure Raskin meant "Marie Antoinette" as a dig, but we've seen the architectural renderings of the ballroom, and it's beautiful and elegant, much more so than the East Wing ever was.

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