The White House ballroom renovation, a pet project of the President, has doubled in budget to an eye-watering $8 million. Critics decry the spend as a monument to American excess while workers on the project say they are paid less than a living wage. The original estimate of $4 million, announced in early 2023, has ballooned as marble imports from Italy and hand-carved gold leaf details were added.
The room, intended for state dinners and galas, now features a 24-carat gold chandelier weighing half a tonne. The President defended the cost, calling it “the finest ballroom in the free world.” But for the 200 construction workers on site, many from low-income neighbourhoods in Washington D.
C., the irony is bitter. One electrician, who asked not to be named, said, “We’re building luxury we can never afford.
My wages haven’t gone up in three years.” The Biden administration’s Department of Labor has no oversight on private White House contracts. Unions representing the workers have called for a wage review.
The ballroom is set to open in September, just in time for the President’s re-election campaign events. Meanwhile, the cost of bread in the capital has risen 12% this year.
