Not long after the Trump administration demolished the historic East Wing of the White House, it moved to fast-track the demolition of more than a dozen historic buildings in Washington, D.C. Major preservation groups are pushing back hard.
Documents obtained by The Washington Post show that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is seeking emergency approval to demolish 13 historic buildings at the federal campus St. Elizabeths. This site was established by Congress in 1855 and was originally called the “Government Hospital for the Insane.” This effort has sparked a frantic and high-stakes fight between federal officials, who argue for public safety, and preservation advocates, who warn that the process is being rushed.
In a memo cited by the Post, Noem claimed that the buildings pose “a present risk to life and property.” She stated that the structures are vacant and located on the Department of Homeland Security’s West Campus complex. She warned that their emptiness creates a security vulnerability, saying the buildings could be exploited by “individuals seeking to cause harm to personnel,” including those attempting to stage “active shooter scenarios.”
Based on these claims, DHS filed an emergency notification with the General Services Administration, the agency that manages federal property, to speed up the demolition. The urgency of this request triggered alarm among preservation groups. This emergency notification gave preservationist organizations only three days to respond, which critics argue is too short for decisions regarding historically significant federal buildings.
Preservation organizations did respond and made their objections clear. A joint letter sent to the GSA from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the D.C. Preservation League challenged both the reasoning and the process behind the emergency claim, according to the Post.
“If the space within these vacant buildings is accessible, it’s the GSA and Homeland Security that have failed to effectively secure them,” the letter states. It disputes the idea that demolition is the necessary solution. The groups also argue that treating the issue as an emergency risks bypassing normal safeguards meant to prevent this rushed outcome. “A unilateral declaration like this is problematic because it bypasses the procedural safeguards designed to ensure stability, legitimacy, and fairness,” the letter continues. It adds that Noem’s safety concerns “imply a fundamental flaw in the facility’s security as a whole.”
This dispute unfolds against a larger backdrop of controversy over how the Trump White House treats historic spaces in the capital. Critics and historians have already condemned earlier actions related to President Donald Trump’s push to build a White House ballroom, which involved the demolition of the historic East Wing.
For preservation advocates, the St. Elizabeths fight represents a continuation of a troubling trend, rather than an isolated case. They view the administration’s current move as part of a pattern where historic sites are seen as expendable when they conflict with modernization, politics, or the desire to “get things done” quickly.
For DHS, the argument is straightforward: safety comes first, and it must happen quickly. Noem’s memo emphasizes that vacant structures on a sensitive campus pose a danger, attracting unwanted attention and creating risks that grow daily as the buildings stand unused.
What happens next will likely depend on whether the emergency justification holds up under scrutiny from the GSA and whether lawmakers, preservation organizations, or other federal stakeholders push for a slower process. For now, the lines are drawn. The administration claims the buildings are a threat, while preservationists argue that the threat is being used to justify a swift, irreversible decision.
