President Donald Trump holds an artist rendering of interior of the new White House ballroom as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
The Trump administration is facing accusations of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by withholding “environmental and occupational-safety” documentation related to the recent demolition of the East Wing of the White House, as alleged by an advocacy group for asbestos victims.
On Wednesday, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) filed a 21-page legal complaint, claiming that the National Park Service and other agency defendants have consistently breached FOIA regulations by not providing requested information concerning health, environmental, and safety statutes.
The lawsuit is a response to the renovation project under President Donald Trump, which involved the demolition of part of the White House to make way for a ballroom, initiated in September 2025.
“ADAO firmly asserts that the White House should exemplify transparency and safety in removing asbestos and other dangerous materials during historic federal building renovations,” the complaint states. “When an administration sidesteps essential safety protocols or conceals documentation on protective measures, it undermines public confidence and weakens legal safeguards meant to protect both the public and national resources.”
The lawsuit references various media reports on the renovation, highlighting that asbestos was commonly used in construction during the original building of the White House.
The complaint also raises concerns over an inquiry by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, regarding whether the debris from the demolition was tested for asbestos. According to the lawsuit, the Trump administration failed to address Markey’s asbestos-related questions.
The focal points of the group’s concerns are a series of asbestos-related federal laws and regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the General Services Administration (GSA). The group is also concerned about the project’s compliance with a homegrown asbestos safety statute in Washington, D.C.
To that end, ADAO in October penned a letter to Trump himself which requested “comprehensive records on the presence of asbestos and other hazardous substances in the East Wing, all abatement activities, and procedures employed to protect construction workers,” according to the lawsuit.
“No response to the letter was received,” the lawsuit says.
In November, the group filed a series of formal FOIA request with nine separate agencies, according to the lawsuit.
The litany of ADAO’s requests spans nearly two pages in the complaint. The requests broadly concern hazardous material “abatement” procedures – if such procedures occurred and documentation thereof. The complaint also demands records for “[a]ll actions taken” to comply with the aforementioned district and state laws and regulations.
To date, only the GSA responded to the FOIA requests, the group says.
“That response, a letter dated November 10, 2025, stated that GSA did not ‘locate records responsive to your request’ and added that ‘GSA is not involved with the current renovation or construction activity at the White House,’” the lawsuit reads. “Although ADAO received notices of receipt for the remaining FOIA requests, no responses had been received as of the date of the filing of this Complaint.”
After waiting a statutorily required 20 working days envisioned by the federal FOIA law, the group filed its FOIA lawsuit.
“Defendants’ failure to make determinations on or to produce documents requested in plaintiff’s FOIA requests within the time limits set by FOIA is a denial of those requests and wrongful withholding of records,” the lawsuit goes on.
The plaintiffs are asking the judge to order the agency defendants to “immediately produce the records responsive to plaintiff’s FOIA requests, including all material that is not properly subject to a FOIA exemption” and to identify “all documents withheld under a FOIA exemption and specify why the exemption applies.” The group also wants the court to issue a declaration that the defendants are “wrongfully withholding agency documents” in violation of FOIA.
