Roberts blocked lower court ruling halting ballroom construction
President Donald Trump on Thursday named Mark Paoletta, general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to lead the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal planning agency that oversees his White House ballroom project and a proposed national arch in Washington, D.C.
Paoletta replaces Mark Scharf, who is set to become White House counsel on Monday, according to UPI.
“President Trump has transformed D.C. into a capital worthy of the greatest nation in history,” Paoletta said in a statement to news agencies. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues to further the president’s historic restoration and beautification of the National Capital Region, especially in the 250th year of our country’s independence.”
The NCPC, a 12-member federal panel, is the government’s planning agency for projects in and around the capital. According to its website, the commission “provides overall planning guidance for federal land and buildings in the region.”
In April, the panel approved construction of the ballroom on the site where the East Wing of the White House once stood. The project has drawn a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sought to halt construction. Last week, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that had stopped the project.
In addition to his post at OMB, Paoletta has served as acting chief of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau since the start of August. Brian Johnson has been nominated to fill the role at the CFPB permanently. Paoletta had previously represented Ginny Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, during the House Select Committee’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.