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Active Case

Protecting the EEOB

  • Active Litigation — Case pending in U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
  • About the Case

Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC et. al. v. Trump et. al.

The EEOB is a National Historic Landmark and defining element of the White House complex.

On Wednesday, November 12, 2025, President Donald J. Trump revealed his plans to “beautify” the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) by painting its every exterior surface white. The proposal would permanently alter one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital.

With a dramatic exterior crafted in polished granite, slate, and ornate cast-iron trim, the EEOB is a National Historic Landmark and a defining element of the surrounds of the White House. The building houses approximately 1,500 employees who work for the Executive Offices of the President and Vice President.

Forty-eight hours after the President’s announcement, Cultural Heritage Partners and the DC Preservation League filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking emergency relief to ensure that the project complies with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and other federal laws designed to protect nationally significant historic resources.

  • Current Status

The litigation has evolved far beyond the President’s initial proposal to paint the building.

On January 29, 2026, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the White House Office of Administration (OA) executed a Memorandum of Understanding purporting to transfer responsibility for the EEOB project from GSA to the OA. The government now argues that because the Office of Administration is part of the Executive Office of the President, it is not subject to the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, or judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Following a February 6 hearing, the Court permitted Plaintiffs to amend their complaint, which they filed on February 19, 2026.

Since then, however, the White House has begun moving the project forward. The Office of Administration has appeared before the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, retained consultants, and initiated physical testing on the EEOB’s historic granite façade to determine whether and how the building can be painted. Those activities prompted Plaintiffs to return to court seeking a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo while the Court decides whether the White House may lawfully proceed outside the federal preservation and environmental review process.

  • The Central Legal Questions

The case now presents questions that reach well beyond the future appearance of a single historic building.

Among the issues before the Court are:

  • Can the White House avoid federal preservation and environmental laws simply by transferring a project from one federal agency to another?
  • May the Executive Office of the President undertake major alterations to National Historic Landmarks without complying with the consultation, transparency, and public participation requirements that apply to other federal agencies?
  • Does the Office of Administration have authority to conduct a project that Congress assigned to GSA while remaining insulated from judicial review?
  • Can the government begin implementing a project before the Court determines whether the transfer of authority is lawful?
  • Why it Matters

The EEOB case is about much more than the color of a historic building.

If the government’s legal theory is accepted, it could provide a roadmap for future administrations to sidestep longstanding federal preservation and environmental laws whenever the White House chooses to direct a project itself. The outcome therefore has implications not only for the EEOB, but also for how historic federal buildings, landscapes, and other nationally significant resources are protected across the country.

Press Coverage

Legal Filings (in reverse chronological order):

  • Plaintiffs Opposition to Motion to Dismiss filed March, 27. 2026
    • Exhibit 1 -Declaration of Rebecca Miller 
    • Exhibit 2 -Declaration of Robert Allen Peck 
    • Exhibit 3 -Declaration of Greg Werkheiser 
    • Exhibit 4– Declaration of Marion Werkheiser
  • Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint, filed Febuary 19, 2026
  • Plaintiffs’ Opposed Motion for Expediated Status Conference, filed Febuary 2, 2026
  • Plaintiff’s Voluntary Withdrawal for Preliminary Request for Injunction, filed Dec 12, 2025
  • Plaintiffs’ Response to December 8, 2025 Minute To Order Regarding Irreparable Harm, filed December 10, 2025
  • Supplemental Declaration of Mydelle Wright, filed December 9, 2025
  • Plaintiff’s Reply in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction – filed December 2, 2025
    • Exhibit 1 – Supplemental Declaration of Marion Forsyth Werkheiser
    • Exhibit 2 – Supplemental Declaration of Gregory Alan Werkheiser
    • Exhibit 3 – Photos of the EEOB taken by Gregory Alan Werkheiser
    • Exhibit 4 – Photos of the EEOB taken by Gregory Alan Werkheiser
    • Exhibit 5 – Declaration of Mydelle Wright
    • Exhibit 6 – The Old Executive Office Building: A Victorian Masterpiece (1984)
    • Exhibit 7 – EEOB NRHP Nomination Form (1971)
    • Exhibit 8 – GSA guidance “Granite: Characteristics, Uses And Problem”
    • Exhibit 9 – GSA guidance “Guidelines for Using High Pressure Cleaning Equipment on Masonry”
    • Exhibit 10 – GSA guidance “Minor Repairs to Slate Roofs”
    • Exhibit 11 – Open Data DC Historic Districts Map of NHRO historic districts
    • Exhibit 12 – “Eisenhower Executive Office Building: Modernization and Restoration” (2007) 
    • Exhibit 13 – Declaration of Deborah Linn
    • Exhibit 14 – NPS Preservation Brief 29: The Repair, Replacement, and Maintenance of Historic Slate Roofs 
    • Exhibit 15 – NPS Preservation Brief 1: Assessing Cleaning and Water-Repellent Treatments for Historic Masonry Buildings
    • Exhibit 16 – Declaration of John Fowler
    • Exhibit 17 -EEOB Historic Building Preservation Plan, Project No. RDC 24071 (1993)
    • Exhibit 18 – Old Executive Office Building – Building Condition Report (1990)
    • Exhibit 19 – NPS Cultural Landscape Report Site History and Evaluation 1791-1994: The White House & President’s Park (2001)
    • Exhibit 20 – White House Complex Fence Phase 1 – White House Grounds NCPC Project Report (2016)
    • Exhibit 21 – Lafayette Square National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
    • Exhibit 22 – Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees Transcript 
  • Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction, and Expedited Hearing – filed Nov. 17, 2025
    • Memorandum in Support
    • Proposed Order
    • Exhibit 1 – Declaration of Marion Forsyth Werkheiser
    • Exhibit 2 – Truth Social, Donald J. Trump, August 7, 2025
    • Exhibit 3 – Transcript, Fox News, November 12, 2025
    • Exhibit 4 – People Magazine, ” A Timeline of Donald Trump’s Shocking Changes…”, November 3, 2025
    • Exhibit 5 – Vogue Magazine, “They Paved Paradise”, August 3, 2025
    • Exhibit 6 – EEOB entry on the GSA website
    • Exhibit 7 – The Whitehouse 1600 Sessions Podcast
    • Exhibit 8 – The President’s Park
    • Exhibit 9 – National Register Nomination, Lafayette Square Historic District map
    • Exhibit 10 – Historic Preservation Review board, Historic Landmark Case No. 22-13
    • Exhibit 11 – Federal Performance Contracting Coalition, “How Often Should You Repaint Your Commercial Property?”
    • Exhibit 12 – A Glossary of Historic Masonry Deterioration Problems and Preservation Treatments
    • Exhibit 13 – Declaration of Gregory Alan Werkheiser
    • Exhibit 14 – Declaration of Rebecca Miller
    • Exhibit 15 – U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form
    • Exhibit 16 – Extending the Legacy, GSA Historic Building Stewardship
    • Exhibit 17 – Link solutions, How To Rejuvenate Old Slate Stone with Paint
    • Exhibit 18 – Standards for Restoration and Guidelines for Restoring Historic Buildings
    • Exhibit 19 – U.S. General Services Administration, Specifications for Slate Shingles
    • Exhibit 20 – U.S. General Services Administration, Minor Repairs to Slate Roofs
    • Exhibit 21 – Declaration of Sharon C. Park, FAIA, FAPT
  • Complaint – filed November 14, 2025

Key Documents

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