Trump urges court to hear Eisenhower building issues in February

David Jordan, CQ-Roll Call on Dec 1, 2025

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The administration said a temporary injunction to halt potential work on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building is unnecessary since President Donald Trump has not made a final decision as to whether painting the building is part of his plan to change the look of Washington.

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Nov. 26, administration lawyers said no action had occurred that the court could block. The filing came in response to a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the administration from painting the building. The administration also urged the court to delay a Dec. 8 hearing until February, when it could resolve several issues.

“There is nothing for this court to enjoin,” the administration said, adding, “it is beyond cavil that courts may not enjoin the President for official conduct, much less under the APA [Administrative Procedure Act] and for hypothetical future conduct that may not even occur.”

Trump told Fox News in a Nov. 12 interview that he is considering painting the 19th century building white to highlight the architectural details, remarking that the gray granite is a color “for funerals.”

“I don’t even know if I’m going to do it yet,” Trump said. “I’m getting bids right now from painters and we’ll see. It’d be a great addition to Washington.”

After the administration’s speedy demolition of the East Wing of the White House in October, supporters of historic conservation raised immediate concerns because of Trump’s comments.

Cultural Heritage Partners, a D.C.-based law firm specializing in historic preservation, and the nonprofit D.C. Preservation League sued Trump, the General Services Administration and the National Park Service on Nov. 14 over plans to paint the building white.

The lawsuit said that Trump’s plan would violate the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to consider the effect on the human environment and by neglecting to provide public notice or hold a public comment period. It also argues that painting the building would violate the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires agencies to consider the effects of a project on historic properties.

The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places along with a number of neighboring buildings in 1969.

“The planned cleaning, repointing, and repainting of the EEOB’s exterior stone and wood features, and the dramatic change in the building’s color and appearance, are likely to cause physical damage to historic materials and to diminish the EEOB’s integrity of design,” the lawsuit said.

The building, immediately west of the White House, was completed in 1888 as a home for the departments of State, War and the Navy. It now houses employees for the president and vice president and the Treasury and Defense departments.

The building, with a gray granite exterior, tiered porticoes and a mansard roof, was not always well received, with Mark Twain referring to it as “the ugliest building in America.” President Harry Truman called it a “monstrosity” and despite its name, it was considered for demolition during the Eisenhower administration.

Trump’s demolition of the East Wing was far simpler to accomplish because the NHPA explicitly exempts the White House from the regulations, along with the Capitol and the Supreme Court Building.

The administration said the court should deny the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction since it “can award no injunctive relief against the President, NPS has no authority to paint the EEOB, and GSA has taken no final agency action that could be challenged under the APA.”

The administration also said it would file a motion to dismiss the case. It urged the court to hold a hearing on the preliminary injunction and the motion to dismiss in February, instead of one on Dec. 8 on the preliminary injunction. The case has been assigned to Judge Dabney L. Friedrich, a Trump appointee.

In a separate declaration filed with the court last week, Andrew Heller, acting commissioner of the GSA’s Public Buildings Service, said the GSA would “not authorize or engage in the physical actions” of powerwashing, painting or repointing the EEOB prior to March 1. This moves that date back two months from a similar declaration filed Nov. 18.

Heller added that the GSA has “not issued solicitations for a contract, executed a contract, selected a contractor, or drafted design or construction drawings related to such work.”