Democrats want to stop Trump's arch, golf course and more.
asserted
Democrats → want → course
President Trump's efforts to remake Washington, D.C., have dominated his second term, even after his party's resounding midterm defeat.
asserted
efforts → remake → defeat
He started his election week at the scandal-plagued Reflecting Pool and ended it with an order declaring his gilded Oval Office a national monument to "make it impossible for anybody ever to destroy this incredible space."
That proclamation, like any executive order, could be undone by a future president.
uncertain
proclamation → start → president
But many of Trump's construction projects are changing D.C. in more permanent ways.
asserted
many → change → ways
His administration has already downed hundreds of trees at East Potomac Park and demolished the East Wing of the White House to make space for a ballroom — which he called "the safest place in Washington" as he showed it to reporters the day after the midterms.
asserted
he → down → midterms
Trump has taken a uniquely unilateral approach to construction, packing regulatory commissions with his allies and bypassing Congress entirely.
asserted
Trump → take → Congress
Most of his projects — from the triumphal arch to the Kennedy Center — are now playing out in court.
asserted
Most → play → court
Critics accuse the Trump administration of skirting federal laws and misleading judges in its effort to progress as quickly as possible before the end of his term.
asserted
Critics → accuse → term
Democrats have vowed to use their soon-to-be congressional majority to push back on what they describe as Trump's "vanity projects."
asserted
they → vow → projects
When asked about that, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told NPR in an email that "no other president has done more to beautify our Nation's interior than President Trump."
asserted
president → ask → Trump
He cited park cleanups, the Reflecting Pool and the White House helipad and ballroom as examples, and said Democrats "should work with President Trump to make our nation's capital beautiful again."
asserted
capital → cite → Trump
Rep. Jared Huffman, D.-Calif., told NPR in an interview that the Trump administration has "played this game of Catch Me If You Can, where they roll ahead with the bulldozers and the tree cutters … and they wait for courts to shut them down."
asserted
courts → tell → them
He says a Democrat-led Congress will fight back.
asserted
Congress → say → ?
"There's no way that we could look away while these sacred, iconic places are being permanently changed in ways that violate the law and could have really terrible lasting impacts," said Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, which has a legislative purview over public lands and national parks.
uncertain
which → be → lands
Huffman says blocking Trump's construction projects — and holding people accountable for potential wrongdoing — will be a top priority when he leads the committee.
asserted
he → say → committee
Earlier this week, he sent letters ordering dozens of administration officials and private companies to preserve their records for a future investigation.
asserted
he → send → investigation
"Whether it is the arch or … or the East Potomac golf course or any number of other examples around the United States capital, that is federal land, and we have a direct statutory responsibility to either authorize those changes or to stop them if they're proceeding without the proper authorization," Huffman said.
asserted
Huffman → have → authorization
What would that actually look like?
asserted
that → look → What
Democrats have many tools at their disposal, from legislation to lawsuits.
asserted
Democrats → have → lawsuits
But experts say only two are likely to succeed: funding and oversight.
asserted
two → say → ?
Democrats could block funding for specific projects, potentially as soon as next month
Congress could — at least in theory — pass laws to block specific projects from moving ahead.
uncertain
Congress → block → projects
Some Democratic lawmakers have already introduced bills to protect the Kennedy Center from demolition and prohibit the construction of an arch at Memorial Circle.
asserted
lawmakers → introduce → Circle
But Trump has promised to "veto everything," and Democrats won't have a big enough majority to override him on their own.
asserted
Democrats → promise → own
"Legislation in principle is the cleanest way of doing it, but it's also not achievable," said David Super, who teaches administrative and constitutional law at Georgetown.
asserted
who → do → Georgetown
"So what they're likely to do is cut off funds."
asserted
're → do → funds
The Constitution says that the federal government may spend money only if is appropriated by Congress.
uncertain
government → say → Congress
But Trump has neither sought nor received congressional authorization for projects like the arch and the White House ballroom — he maintains he doesn't need it.
asserted
he → seek → it
Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine is one of many who disagree.
asserted
who → disagree → many
She's the top Democrat on the House committee that oversees funding for the Interior Department.
asserted
that → oversee → Department
"Certainly Congress should have been involved, because we have the power of the purse," Pingree told NPR.
asserted
Pingree → involve → NPR
And Republicans have refused to use that.
asserted
Republicans → refuse → that
But we can use that in very many ways to block him or to use it for leverage."
asserted
we → use → leverage
Pingree says a Democratic majority will be able to write appropriations bills with clear language from the outset about where money can and can't be spent — and potentially take the president to court if he doesn't follow it.
asserted
he → say → it
Super expects Congress would prevail in such a challenge, because it has clear-cut authority over federal funds.
asserted
it → expect → funds
For example, he noted that some of Trump's D.C.-area beautification projects have been funded at least in part by diverted national park entrance fees.
asserted
some → note → fees
Congress could "cap how much money can be used in the greater Washington area, and force the money to be used in the Everglades and Yosemite and Great Smoky Mountains," he said.
uncertain
he → cap → Everglades
Congress will have to make some appropriations decisions in the coming weeks, since it needs to pass a short-term funding bill by Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown.
asserted
it → have → shutdown
Democrats could use that opportunity to try to limit funding for at least one of Trump's construction projects.
uncertain
Democrats → use → projects
Huffman has proposed language that would prevent Trump from using federal funds for the East Potomac golf course renovations, limiting them instead to repairs of the park's crumbling seawall.
asserted
that → propose → seawall
Pingree said she will join him in fighting to negotiate that into next month's bill.
asserted
she → say → bill
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
