U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring the Oval Office, the Outer Oval Office and the Cabinet Room at the White House national monuments. The decision was announced after the Republicans’ defeat in the midterm elections and is intended to preserve the changes made to the interiors of the presidential rooms.
“We achieved incredible victories in this office. That is why we are declaring it a national monument, so that stupid people cannot touch it, destroy it or disfigure it,” Trump said.
What the proclamation provides
The document was issued under the Antiquities Act, which allows the president to declare historic sites and structures on federal property national monuments. According to the proclamation, the White House and its grounds are already a national historic landmark, but the Oval Office deserves separate recognition and special management because of its role in the history of the American presidency.
The Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, was instructed to prepare a management plan. It must protect the historic character and architectural integrity of the rooms, as well as provide for documentation, review and evaluation of alternatives when substantial alterations or demolition are proposed.
Changes are not completely prohibited
The proclamation does not state that the document must be approved by Congress to take effect. On the contrary, it is framed as an operative presidential decision. The document explicitly states that it does not limit the president’s authority to change the furnishings or carry out ordinary operational and security modifications, as long as they do not substantially damage the historic structure and architectural character.
The proclamation also does not alter the existing exceptions for the White House under the historic preservation law and does not limit Congress’s authority over federal property. This means that the claim that future presidents will in all cases need explicit congressional approval for changes to the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room does not follow from the published text of the document.
Sources: focus-news.net, apnews.com, investing.com