A federal planning panel advanced the Trump administration's proposal to ring Lafayette Square with permanent fencing on Friday, Sept. 4, despite sharp opposition from preservationists, civil liberties lawyers and D.C. residents.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) accepted several versions of the fencing plan at its hearing, setting up a final vote with no date yet confirmed. The commission took no binding action Friday.

The proposal, put forward by the Secret Service and the White House, calls for an 8-to-10-foot-tall black metal fence encircling the entire 8-acre park, with larger gates at the north and south entrances, according to NCPC submission documents reported by Axios. The administration's 79-page plan anticipates phased construction beginning in 2027, NPR reported in July.

Lafayette Square has not had permanent fencing since the late 1800s.

ACLU attorney Laura Follansbee told the commission that even open gates would chill public use, warning that the fence's very presence would signal the park is "only open by permission," according to WTOP. Pam Fessler, whom WTOP identified as a former federal employee and retired journalist, warned that closures would become routine whenever protests or large gatherings were expected.

NCPC Chairman Mark Paoletta, a Trump appointee presiding over his first meeting as chairman, rejected those concerns. He cited multiple assassination attempts against President Trump, including two during the 2024 campaign, a third in April 2026 at a dinner with White House journalists and a May 2026 incident in which Secret Service officers fatally shot a man who opened fire near a White House checkpoint. Paoletta said he did not believe the Secret Service would close the park during peaceful protests.

Planning Commissioner Evan Cash, who is not a Trump appointee, pushed back on the Secret Service's expanding security footprint. Cash noted the agency won approval for a 13-foot fence around the White House perimeter only a decade ago.

"I swallowed a lot of stuff then that I never would have swallowed if I knew that we were going to be coming back and pushing people another block away from the White House," he said.

The park has been closed behind temporary fencing since January 2026 for renovations. As of Friday, it remained shut even though the work had finished.

The administration has also pitched permanent fencing as an aesthetic upgrade over temporary barriers erected since 2020 protests. The proposal calls for repaving the square, according to The Gazette, arguing that current pavers could come loose and be used as "projectiles" during unrest.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced a bill in July 2026 to prohibit permanent fencing at Lafayette Square, saying more barriers would transform the nation's democracy into one "exclusive and fearful of its own citizens."

The commission also approved the concept for a new White House Visitor Screening Facility south of the Treasury Department. The administration wants the facility open by July 2028 to replace temporary tents used for years.

The required historic preservation review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act had not yet begun as of July 2026, according to NPR.