media
Turtle effigy, part of an extensive Native American ceremonial stone landscape in the Northeast. Many such sites will become unprotected against destruction if Section 106 is weakened. Photo by Greg Werkheiser.
ABOUT OUR COALITION AND THE CAMPAIGN
-
The Washington Post | August 27,2026 | Dan Diamond
The Washington Post reports on the emergence of a broad national coalition asking Congress to resist efforts to weaken Section 106 through regulation, legislation, and executive action. Since publication, the Coalition has grown to more than 900 Tribal Nations and organizations with approximately nine million members.
-
The Rachel Maddow Show | September 1, 2026 | Rachel Maddow with Greg Werkheiser
Rachel Maddow examines the Administration’s attacks on historic places and the laws intended to protect them, including the White House ballroom and the broader effort to weaken public review and accountability.
-
Happy Birthday America Wherever You Are and Whatever Is Left
September 17, 2026 | Marc Stein
A reflection on the accelerating threats to American historic places and the importance of laws that require the federal government to consider what could be lost before it acts.
Regulatory gutting by the achp
-
NPR | July 23, 2026 | Rachel Treisman
NPR explains how the proposed rewrite of the Section 106 regulations could affect historic places, Tribal cultural sites, and communities throughout the country—not only the President’s high-profile projects in Washington.
-
The Washington Post | July 25, 2026 | Dan Diamond and Jake Spring
The Washington Post reports on the Advisory Council’s vote to advance sweeping changes to Section 106 regulations and examines how those changes could assist the President’s proposed triumphal arch and other federal projects.
-
Happy Birthday America Wherever You Are and Whatever Is Left
July 25, 2026 | Heather Cox Richardson
Historian Heather Cox Richardson places the effort to weaken historic- preservation review within the larger struggle over executive power, public accountability, and the institutions that constrain unilateral government action.
-
Law360 | July 27, 2026 | Crystal Owens
Law360 examines concerns that the proposed rewrite would weaken Tribal consultation and place sacred sites, cultural landscapes, archaeological resources, and other significant places at greater risk.
-
PBS NewsHour | July 28, 2026 | Anna Azzi Davenport, Jeffrey Brown, and Azhar Merchant
PBS NewsHour explains the Advisory Council’s vote, the concerns raised by Tribal and preservation leaders, and the potential nationwide consequences of weakening Section 106.
[Watch the Report]
-
Axios | July 21, 2026 | Mimi Montgomery
Axios reports on how proposed changes to Section 106 could accelerate the President’s projects in Washington while reducing review and public participation for federal undertakings across the country.
-
July 19, 2026 | The Atlantic
The Atlantic examines the compressed review of the proposed triumphal arch, the project’s effects on some of the nation’s most significant commemorative landscapes, and the simultaneous effort to weaken the rules governing that review.
Statutory gutting by congress
-
POLITICO | September 28, 2026 | Nico Portuondo and Anthony Cruz
POLITICO reports that Senate negotiators have reached a bipartisan deal on permitting reform text, expected to be released this week, with Republican priorities that include a 150-day statute of limitations on lawsuits under the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
-
Item descriptionThe Hill | September 24, 2026 | Rachel Frazin
The Hill reports that the White House is pressuring Democrats to move faster on a permitting reform deal, warning that its concessions on wind and solar could expire before a lame-duck vote, while Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says the bill text could be finalized within days but passage is most likely after the midterms.
-
Reuters | September 24, 2026 | Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan
Reuters reports that the Senate is nearing a deal to reform permitting of large infrastructure projects after the White House compromised on how renewable energy is treated, though a vote before the midterm elections is uncertain and the House is in recess until after November.
-
E&E News by POLITICO | July 22, 2026 | Josh Siegal
E&E News by POLITICO reports that Sen. Martin Heinrich blasted the administration's pending Section 106 rulemaking, warning that it could weaken implementation of the National Historic Preservation Act, undermine consultation with Tribes, and hurt bipartisan permitting reform talks on Capitol Hill.
Executive Endruns From the Administration
-
The Atlantic | July 19, 2026 | Janay Kingsberry
The Atlantic examines the compressed review of the proposed triumphal arch, the project’s effects on some of the nation’s most significant commemorative landscapes, and the simultaneous effort to weaken the rules governing that review.
-
The Washington Post | July 20, 2026 | Dan Diamond, Jake Spring
The Washington Post reports that critics warn the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's proposed Section 106 revisions would narrow the definition of historic property, make state and public consultation optional, and let agencies approve projects without the agreement of states or Tribal Nations.
-
CNN | July 21, 2026 | Sunlen Serfaty
CNN reports that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is asking its members to vote by July 24 on rule changes that would cut the public comment requirement, replace the duty to "avoid, minimize or mitigate" adverse effects with "reasonable mitigation measures," and strike many Tribal consultation stipulations, with critics calling it a gutting of Section 106.
-
The New Republic | July 21, 2026 | Timothy Noah
The New Republic reports that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's draft Section 106 revisions would require historic properties to be "geographically compact," stripping protection from sacred Tribal sites like Oak Flat and historic neighborhoods and clearing the way for mining, drilling, and the administration's own building projects.
-
The Architect’s Newspaper | July 21, 2026 | Daniel Jonas Roche
The Architect's Newspaper reports on pushback from preservationists and legal experts against the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's July 17 draft revisions to Section 106, which would make public comment optional and limit historic properties to sites with "tangible human improvements" that are "geographically compact," with Cultural Heritage Partners calling the changes a "betrayal" of Tribal Nations and a Council vote set for July 24 before publication in the Federal Register.
-
CBS | July 22, 2026 | Emma Nicholson
CBS News reports that a Trump-appointed Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is voting on Section 106 changes that would eliminate required public comment and limit the role of states and Tribes, drawing opposition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Tribal and state preservation officers.
-
PBS News Hour | July 28, 2026 | Anna Azzi Davenport, Jeffrey Brown, and Azhar Merchant
PBS NewsHour explains the Advisory Council’s vote, the concerns raised by Tribal and preservation leaders, and the potential nationwide consequences of weakening Section 106.
-
The New York Times | July 31, 2026 | Julia Jacobs
The New York Times reports that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has given initial approval to Section 106 revisions that would narrow the historic sites reviewed and reduce consultation with Tribes and states, and preservation groups are preparing legal action.
-
Native News Online | July 31, 2026 | Levi Rickert
Native News Online reports that Tribal Nations and preservation advocates, including the Association on American Indian Affairs, oppose the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's proposed Section 106 revisions, warning they would weaken Tribal consultation and protections for sacred places.
-
CNN | August 8, 2026 | Betsy Klein, Thomas Bordeaux, Devan Cole, and Kristen Holmes
CNN reports that a divided D.C. Circuit panel ruled that President Trump is unlawfully constructing the White House ballroom and must stop construction until Congress approves it, pausing the ruling for two weeks so the administration can seek Supreme Court review.
-
PBS News Hour | August 7, 2026 | Amna Nawaz
PBS News reports that a federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that President Trump cannot continue building his $400 million White House ballroom without congressional approval, siding with preservationists but giving the administration two weeks to appeal to the Supreme Court.
-
Fox News | August 8, 2026 | Elaine Mallon
Fox News reports that legal experts expect the Supreme Court could dismiss the White House ballroom case on standing grounds, without deciding whether Congress must approve the project, after a divided D.C. Circuit upheld the order blocking above-ground construction.
-
Rueters | August 7, 2026 | Mike Scarcella
Reuters reports that a divided D.C. Circuit ordered the Trump administration to stop construction on the $400 million White House ballroom, holding that "each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House" and that Congress must approve the project, while giving the administration 14 days to seek Supreme Court review.
-
NPR | August 7, 2026 | Rachel Treisman
NPR reports that a divided federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of its White House ballroom, saying the project needs congressional approval to continue, while staying the order for two weeks so the administration can appeal to the Supreme Court.
-
The Washington Post | July 24, 2026 | Philip Kennicott
The Washington Post's Philip Kennicott writes that a lawsuit by Cultural Heritage Partners and the D.C. Preservation League challenges the plan to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white, warning it could damage the granite and evade historic review by moving the project to the White House Office of Administration.
-
CNN | July 29, 2026 | Sunlen Serfaty
CNN reports that Cultural Heritage Partners is seeking an emergency injunction to stop the administration from painting four test panels on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, arguing the testing lacks expert oversight and sidesteps the review process by shifting the project from GSA to the White House Office of Administration.
-
CNN | February 10, 2026 | Betsy Klein, Ian Berry, and Renee Ridgon
CNN reports that President Trump is moving ahead with plans for a 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, which preservationists say would block historic views and raise aviation safety concerns near Reagan National Airport, and which faces likely legal challenges under the National Historic Preservation Act and NEPA.
-
NPR | August 6, 2026 | Leila Fadel
NPR reports that the National Park Service's own assessment found the proposed 250-foot triumphal arch would adversely affect 37 historic sites, and that preservation groups, including Cultural Heritage Partners, say the administration skipped real consideration of alternative locations as the Section 106 review moves ahead quickly.
-
The New York Times | August 3, 2026 | Emily Badger
The New York Times reports that a National Park Service assessment found the proposed 250-foot triumphal arch would intrude on views at dozens of historic sites, including Arlington National Cemetery, while the administration's proposed Section 106 rule changes would leave nearly all of those adverse effects unrecognized.
-
The New York Times | May 30, 2026 | Zach Montague, Julia Jacobs
The New York Times reports that a federal judge ordered President Trump's name removed from the Kennedy Center, finding that only Congress can change a name it set by statute in 1964, while also temporarily blocking the board's planned two-year closure and prompting the center to say it will appeal.
-
PBS | July 8, 2026 | Jesse Bedayn
PBS News, in an Associated Press report, says a three-judge appeals panel denied the Kennedy Center board's request to restore President Trump's name to the building while it appeals a ruling that the name change was illegal, finding the board had not shown it would be irreparably injured.