Trump picks new chair for agency overseeing ballroom, arch construction

President Trump on Wednesday named Mark Paoletta the chair of the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), a panel overseeing his White House ballroom and Washington arch projects.

Paoletta, the general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will succeed Will Scharf as chair of the NCPC. Scharf is set to take over for David Warrington as White House counsel Monday.

The 12-member NCPC acts as the federal government’s planning agency for projects in the D.C. region. The commission is involved in the “planning, policymaking and project review” processes, specifically reviewing the design of federal and “certain” local projects, according to its website.

Panelists on the NCPC in April approved Trump’s plan to build a ballroom where the demolished East Wing once stood. Construction crews first tore down the East Wing in October, with the White House saying the ballroom will be done before the end of the president’s term.  

Chief Justice John Roberts........

© The Hill