Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), who previously chaired the influential House Intelligence Committee, was revealed Tuesday to have pushed back against President Donald Trump’s White House makeover, albeit “quietly” in a letter recently obtained by a watchdog group, The Washington Post reported.
“The stark images of the East Wing demolished in mere days were disturbing to Americans who cherish preservation of our nation’s history,” Turner wrote in a letter last October to the congressional Historic Preservation Caucus — a letter obtained by the watchdog group Public Citizen and shared with the Post.
Trump’s ballroom project – an under-construction 90,000 square-foot addition to the White House that required the demolition of the East Wing – kicked off last year behind schedule and was reportedly designed in a “hurried process.” The East Wing’s demolition was so controversial at the time that the Treasury Department instructed staff not to share photos of the historic building’s destruction.
In public, Republican lawmakers have either defended the project or remained silent. However, Public Citizen’s recent discovery of Turner’s letter revealed that at least one GOP lawmaker took issue with the ballroom project, and the organization’s democracy advocate, Jon Golinger, suspects there to be others.
“[Turner’s letter] revealed what people were really thinking,” Golinger told the Post. “I bet there’s a lot more high-ranking Republicans who feel the same.”
Turner’s apparent opposition to the ballroom project is shared with a majority of Americans. According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll, an overwhelming majority said that they were opposed to the project, with only 28% indicating that they supported it. Its unpopularity, Golinger argued, could explain why most Republican lawmakers have largely remained silent on the matter.
“I certainly haven't seen a lot of campaign ads saying, ‘Elect me for this reason,’” Golinger told the Post. “No Republicans have had to… put their name behind this project and say, ‘This is what I stand for.’”