Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) defended President Donald Trump's reconstruction of the White House's East Wing into a ballroom in an op-ed for Newsweek, writing that "the White House is not a museum."
Last week, Representative Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) wrote a letter demanding "full transparency" about the funding for the project, saying that "the American people deserve full transparency regarding the substantial demolition, preparation, and construction at the White House during a government shutdown, particularly when it concerns alterations to one of our nation's most historically significant buildings."
More recently, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) commented that President Trump is "focusing on the ballroom, he's focused on everything but he's not focused on what's happening right now. Inflation is still high, people can't buy what they need to buy, and energy is still high."
Sen. Gallego also compared the construction to the apocryphal story of Marie Antoinette saying, "let them eat cake."
In his op-ed, Rep. Biggs struck back to the criticism, arguing that "for more than a week now, the media has worked itself into a frenzy over the construction of a new White House ballroom. They spend news cycle after news cycle calling it 'destruction' and claiming President Donald Trump is 'defacing history.' They couldn't be more wrong."
After all, Rep. Biggs continued, the White House has seen extensive renovations in the 20th century alone, with Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Richard Nixon, and Harry Truman all making significant changes to the Executive Mansion.
The Arizona Congressman suggested the addition of a ballroom serves a practical purpose, writing that "for years, the White House has struggled to accommodate large-scale events, whether for state visits, national ceremonies, or even bipartisan gatherings that bring leaders together. Under this presidency, the People's House is regaining the capacity to host the American people again."
Biggs further suggested that Democrats and the left-leaning press have been hostile simply because the renovation is conducted by Trump.
"The same voices that cheer when money is spent on 'green art installations' or 'inclusive architecture' suddenly declare war when President Trump is the one putting on the builder's hat. The outrage is as predictable as it is misplaced," he wryly noted.
