Overview
- Reporting and budget records show the administration plans roughly $927 million in projects across the White House grounds while it has routed about $875 million into the small Executive Residence 'White House Repair and Restoration' account.
- That $875 million includes roughly $500 million moved from the U.S. Secret Service and the White House Military Office, $305 million in private donations, and an unexplained $70 million with no identified source.
- Donor contracts made public after a lawsuit let corporate contributors remain anonymous and name companies with large federal business, including Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Google.
- A federal appeals court halted above-ground work on the East Wing ballroom for lacking congressional authorization but allowed some underground security work to proceed while the White House seeks emergency review at the Supreme Court.
- Lawmakers and watchdogs have opened oversight probes and lawsuits that could force congressional appropriations for major repairs, raise the prospect that taxpayers cover much of the bill, and reshape rules for shifting agency funds into White House projects.