White House ballroom vote delayed amid deluge of angry public comments

Over 100 people have registered to speak and more than 35,000 written comments have been sent in, the vast majority of which are negative.

A vote on President Donald Trump’s plans for a $400 million White House ballroom is being re-scheduled, as a commission in charge of deciding the project has been deluged with over 35,000 written comments and 104 people wanting to testify at a March 5 public hearing.

The National Capital Planning Commission, the overseer of federal property development and site designs, says that it will still hold an online public hearing today to hear from droves of people - mostly negative - that signed up to speak or reached out via email to share their ballroom views.

"Given the large amount of public input on the project, both from witnesses and written comments, the Commission is not expected to deliberate and vote on the project (March 5,) but instead to hold the deliberation and vote at a later date," NCPC spokesperson Stephen Staudigl told USA TODAY.

Staudigl said the vast majority of responses received via email have expressed negative opinions about the ballroom, and a USA TODAY cursory review found many angry responses, calling the ballroom idea gaudy, expensive, aggrandizing, and unnecessary.

The commission's public meeting promises to offer a window into the public’s view of the project, which led to the demolition of the East Wing. The 12-member NCPC board is chaired by Trump appointee Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, and includes two other White House officials.