Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
Congressional Republicans this week bent over backward to defend President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to raze the entire East Wing of the White House to make way for his hideously gaudy $300 million ballroom.
Republicans mocked Democrats, who are outraged that Trump decided to demolish an entire segment of the White House to build a ballroom corruptly funded by donors who have business before the federal government.
“He put up some of his own money,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said of the project, even though we have no idea how much Trump—who notoriously stiffs his contractors—actually gave to the project. “You would think, ‘Well gee whiz, at least they could agree to that, it’s not even taxpayer money, it’s gonna be a permanent renovation that will enhance the White House for all future presidents.”
Unfortunately for Scalise, Americans do not agree with that assessment, with just 23% of adults saying they think the ballroom will have a positive impact on the White House, according to a YouGov survey.
But Scalise continued his whiny tirade.
“They say no to everything he does,” Scalise said. “Because they just are angry about the results of the election from last year.”
Yes, we are angry. But it’s because every day Trump does something so egregiously corrupt and illegal that it’s leading this country into banana republic territory.
“Presidents have routinely renovated and expanded the White House over the last century. The faux outrage from the Left is a deflection from the Schumer Shutdown,” Trump bootlicker Rep. Andy Biggs wrote in a post on X. “Leftists are severely afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome,” the Arizona Republican claimed.
Of course, those projects had approval from Congress, input from historic preservation boards, and were not funded by a corrupt pay-to-play scheme. But okay.
Related | Wait, Trump is demanding how much from the government?
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also mocked Democrats’ outrage.
“I’m shaking right now. The humanity!” he wrote in a sarcastic post on X that featured images from past White House renovations.
And in his haste to defend Trump, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee wrote an idiotic post on X in which he posted an image of the White House being demolished along with the text, “Someone needs to stop the @realDonaldTrump administration from destroying the @WhiteHouse. Oh wait this was during the basketball court construction during the Obama administration. #nevermind“
Of course, the photo Burchett posted was NOT from Obama’s basketball court “construction”—which actually wasn’t construction at all but rather converting an existing tennis court so that he could shoot some hoops while Republicans painted him out to be the antichrist because his skin wasn’t white.
Burchett ultimately deleted the post and put in the correct time the photo took place, which was during the Truman administration. But that still doesn’t make the point he thinks he’s making, as Truman had to renovate the White House because it was structurally unsound. And he did so in conjunction with historic preservation boards that worked to reuse existing decorative elements in the new building, and with congressional approval and funding.

According to the Truman presidential library, “The Truman renovation retained the original walls, the third floor and the roof, while removing, and then reinstalling, the interiors within a skeleton of steel structural beams on a new concrete foundation.”
Trump, meanwhile, took a literal excavator to the structure—and is now blocking the press from seeing the destruction as it unfolds.
Only one Republican had the sense to say that, actually, razing a major portion of the White House to build a gilded ballroom amid a shutdown when many federal workers aren’t getting paid is not a great look.
“We’re in the middle of a shutdown,” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said. “Got a couple of other things going on that we should probably focus on ahead of a building project.”
Of course, Tillis is retiring, so he no longer has to lick Trump’s boots like his fellow GOP colleagues, who are afraid that speaking out against Dear Leader will cost them their seats in Congress—or worse.
Because, say it with me now: They’re all cowards.
Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.
Congressional Republicans this week bent over backward to defend President Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to raze the entire East Wing of the White House to make way for his hideously gaudy $300 million ballroom.
Republicans mocked Democrats, who are outraged that Trump decided to demolish an entire segment of the White House to build a ballroom corruptly funded by donors who have business before the federal government.
“He put up some of his own money,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said of the project, even though we have no idea how much Trump—who notoriously stiffs his contractors—actually gave to the project. “You would think, ‘Well gee whiz, at least they could agree to that, it’s not even taxpayer money, it’s gonna be a permanent renovation that will enhance the White House for all future presidents.”
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Unfortunately for Scalise, Americans do not agree with that assessment, with just 23% of adults saying they think the ballroom will have a positive impact on the White House, according to a YouGov survey.
But Scalise continued his whiny tirade.
“They say no to everything he does,” Scalise said. “Because they just are angry about the results of the election from last year.”
Yes, we are angry. But it’s because every day Trump does something so egregiously corrupt and illegal that it’s leading this country into banana republic territory.
“Presidents have routinely renovated and expanded the White House over the last century. The faux outrage from the Left is a deflection from the Schumer Shutdown,” Trump bootlicker Rep. Andy Biggs wrote in a post on X. “Leftists are severely afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome,” the Arizona Republican claimed.
Of course, those projects had approval from Congress, input from historic preservation boards, and were not funded by a corrupt pay-to-play scheme. But okay.
Related | Wait, Trump is demanding how much from the government?
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah also mocked Democrats’ outrage.
“I’m shaking right now. The humanity!” he wrote in a sarcastic post on X that featured images from past White House renovations.
And in his haste to defend Trump, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee wrote an idiotic post on X in which he posted an image of the White House being demolished along with the text, “Someone needs to stop the @realDonaldTrump administration from destroying the @WhiteHouse. Oh wait this was during the basketball court construction during the Obama administration. #nevermind”
Of course, the photo Burchett posted was NOT from Obama’s basketball court “construction”—which actually wasn’t construction at all but rather converting an existing tennis court so that he could shoot some hoops while Republicans painted him out to be the antichrist because his skin wasn’t white.
Burchett ultimately deleted the post and put in the correct time the photo took place, which was during the Truman administration. But that still doesn’t make the point he thinks he’s making, as Truman had to renovate the White House because it was structurally unsound. And he did so in conjunction with historic preservation boards that worked to reuse existing decorative elements in the new building, and with congressional approval and funding.
According to the Truman presidential library, “The Truman renovation retained the original walls, the third floor and the roof, while removing, and then reinstalling, the interiors within a skeleton of steel structural beams on a new concrete foundation.”
Trump, meanwhile, took a literal excavator to the structure—and is now blocking the press from seeing the destruction as it unfolds.
Only one Republican had the sense to say that, actually, razing a major portion of the White House to build a gilded ballroom amid a shutdown when many federal workers aren’t getting paid is not a great look.
“We’re in the middle of a shutdown,” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said. “Got a couple of other things going on that we should probably focus on ahead of a building project.”
Of course, Tillis is retiring, so he no longer has to lick Trump’s boots like his fellow GOP colleagues, who are afraid that speaking out against Dear Leader will cost them their seats in Congress—or worse.
Because, say it with me now: They’re all cowards.

