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Motion for injunction in Eisenhower building case withdrawn

General Services Administration said it wouldn't take any steps regarding the building before March 1, 2026

The Eisenhower Executive Office Building is seen from the top of the Washington Monument on Nov. 17.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building is seen from the top of the Washington Monument on Nov. 17. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Cultural Heritage Partners, the group that sued to prevent the Trump administration from painting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, withdrew its motion Friday, saying it accepted assurances from the General Services Administration that it wouldn’t take any steps regarding the building before March 1, 2026.

The group notified the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that it was withdrawing its motion for a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction and an expedited hearing. It said it was doing so after Andrew Heller filed a third declaration on Wednesday that the GSA wouldn’t seek bids, sign a contract or draft any design or construction drawing for power washing, painting or repointing the exterior of the building before March 1.

Heller is the acting commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service. Cultural Heritage said his third declaration expanded the GSA’s commitments. 

Cultural Heritage Partners, a D.C.-based law firm specializing in historic preservation, and the nonprofit D.C. Preservation League sued Trump, the General Services Administration and the National Park Service on Nov. 14 over plans to paint the building white.

The lawsuit said the plan would violate the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to consider the effect on the human environment and by neglecting to provide public notice or hold a public comment period. It also argues that painting the building would violate the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires agencies to consider the effects of a project on historic properties.

The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places along with a number of neighboring buildings in 1969.

This report’s headline was corrected to reflect the withdrawal of the motion for an injunction.

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