Federal commission approves construction plans for White House visitor screening center

The National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously voted to approve building plans for a new White House Visitor Screening Facility.

The project is part of President Donald Trump’s massive overhaul of the White House grounds, but one that has enjoyed bipartisan support and drawn little pushback compared to his other construction plans.

The facility will be built off 15th Street in Sherman Park, with an entrance that leads below ground for screening and allows visitors to exit by the East Wing of the White House, the site of the president’s more controversial ballroom project.

The commission’s chairman, Trump appointee Mark Paoletta, said Thursday, “I look forward to the beautiful building be built on the White House grounds.”

Lee Webb, an urban planner with the 12-member commission, presented the final plans for the facility. He said it will include a versatile indoor open-floor-plan space that will allow the Secret Service to install permanent screening technology. The space will also allow significant indoor queuing for large events, with a 700-person occupancy within the screening facility.

Visitors to the White House are now screened in temporary, double-wide trailers and tents, which the Secret Service has said falls short of its security needs.

The plans were approved by all members of the commission, which includes representatives appointed by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat.

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Construction work is expected to begin in the next month and finish at some point in 2028.

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Representing the General Services Administration on the board, Trump appointee Paul Ingrassia hailed the addition of the new facility as “an incredible part of this White House reimagining we’ve been seeing.”

That includes the massive 90,000-square-foot ballroom that’s being constructed at the site of the former East Wing. The commission approved the plans for the ballroom in April.

At Thursday’s hearing, one of the presenters said the exit of the new facility will have Corinthian columns to “align with the ballroom’s language.”

The president has been highly involved in renovations at the White House, which have included gold adornments in the Oval Office and the installation of a helipad on the White House lawn, as well as other projects around D.C., like the proposed construction of a “Triumphal Arch.”