The National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved final design and construction plans for an underground White House visitor screening facility — the latest step in the Trump administration's overhaul of the White House grounds, and a rare one enjoying bipartisan support with little pushback.
The National Capital Planning Commission advanced the proposal for the screening facility on Thursday, signing off on both design and building plans. Commission Chairman Mark Paoletta, a Trump appointee, said, "I look forward to the beautiful building be built on the White House grounds," adding that "it is evident that a more permanent, thoughtfully designed facility is much needed to welcome visitors to the White House complex."
The vote was unanimous, including members appointed by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat. Evan Cash, a D.C. Council staff member serving on the commission, praised the process: "It's a great example of the regular order of things coming through here and how the project becomes better, actually probably cheaper and a little bit more effective in how it's going to work."
The 33,000-square-foot (3,066-square-meter) facility would be built beneath Sherman Park, southeast of the White House and directly south of the Treasury building. Visitors would enter off 15th Street, clear screening underground, and exit near the East Wing — the site of Trump's planned ballroom.
The space includes a versatile indoor open floor plan where the Secret Service can install permanent screening technology, plus significant indoor queuing for large events, with a 700-person occupancy. It will screen public tour participants, guests at large events, and staff and contractors entering the White House.
For years, White House visitors have been screened in temporary double-wide trailers and tents, with barriers fashioned from bicycle racks. The Secret Service has long said that setup falls short of its security needs.
The project is a collaboration of the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Secret Service, and the National Park Service, which manages the White House grounds. The administration wants it open by July 2028 — six months before Trump would finish his second term. Construction is expected to begin within the next month and finish sometime in 2028. The cost has not been disclosed.
Security for Trump is a top concern. He survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign and a third this past April at a Washington dinner attended by White House journalists. Concerns sharpened in May after Secret Service officers fatally shot a man who opened fire near a White House security checkpoint.
The design features Corinthian columns intended to complement Trump's planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the former East Wing site, whose plans the commission approved in April. The Commission of Fine Arts approved the screening center's concept in July, and its staff gave final approval on September 24.
The design didn't sail through untouched: James McCrery II, Trump's former ballroom architect, urged at a March hearing that the structure be scaled back. "Can this building please be made shorter in length? And shorter in height?" McCrery said. "It's such a prominent thing. And its prominence, then, obligates it to be beautiful."
The screening center is part of a broader security buildup around the White House. In September, the commission separately reviewed proposals for an 8-to-10-foot fence and gates around Lafayette Park. Paul Ingrassia, representing the General Services Administration on the board and another Trump appointee, hailed the screening center as "an incredible part of this White House reimagining we've been seeing."
Unlike the ballroom, which has drawn fierce controversy, the screening center went through regular order: bipartisan, uneventful. For the Trump administration, it may be the least painful piece of the White House makeover.