Trump administration gets final legal OK to install own panels at President's House, city appeals
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Updated July 3, 2026, 2:51 p.m. ET | Published July 3, 2026, 2:09 p.m. ET
A Philadelphia-based federal appeals court gave President Donald Trump’s administration the final go-ahead to install its own exhibit at the President’s House. The new panels, which historians have criticized for whitewashing George Washington’s role in enslaving nine people, have been manufactured and stand ready to install, the Justice Department told the court.
The procedural step, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit took on an observed federal holiday, followed a Thursday request by Justice Department attorneys to allow the National Park Service to “begin work immediately and install its new exhibits.” The Third Circuit ruled last month that the city has no rights over the President’s House.
“The President’s House is an important national historical site, and the Government submits that the President’s House exhibits should be fully installed without further delay,” the government’s filing said. Only two of 11 new panels mention the people enslaved at the President’s House, which was the exhibit’s original purpose. The exhibits are not factually wrong, historians said, but cast Washington in a more sympathetic light.
“Slaves living in the President’s House experienced a greater modicum of autonomy than elsewhere in the South such as to explore the city and sometimes even attend the theater, with Washington buying the tickets,” one panel reads. The city quickly appealed and asked the Third Circuit court to recall the Friday-morning order, saying it didn’t have time to respond to the Justice Department’s Thursday request. And while the federal government asked to install the exhibits “immediately,” the request did not identify a reason for the rush. “That is not an emergency,” the city’s filing said, “it is a preference for speed.”
Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/presidents-house-trump-panels-third-circuit-philadelphia-appeal-20260703.html
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203.115.0.pdf
Link to City of Philadelphia MOTION TO RECONSIDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203.117.0.pdf
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143680999
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