Trump administration doesn't need to restore more President's House exhibits for now, appeals court says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Updated Feb. 20, 2026, 5:24 p.m. ET | Published Feb. 20, 2026, 10:55 a.m. ET


President Donald Trump’s administration won its first court victory in the President’s House case Friday afternoon, when a federal appeals judge paused the injunction ordering the restoration of the slavery exhibits to the site. Third Circuit Judge Thomas M. Hardiman, a George W. Bush appointee, overruled a district judge’s order just an hour before the government’s deadline to comply with the injunction.

The National Park Service does not need to restore the exhibits for the duration of the appeal, the order said, but is enjoined from damaging the exhibits and required to take “all necessary steps” to ensure they are not harmed. The order further prohibits the federal government from making any other changes to the site, including setting up replacement exhibits, which the Department of Interior said would have been installed “in the coming days” if not for the injunction.

“[The Department of Interior and National Park Service] are to preserve the status quo as to the President’s House as of the entry of this order,” Hardiman wrote. The order is not accompanied by an opinion or memorandum explaining which of the government’s arguments Hardiman found compelling.

Hardiman’s ruling landed an hour before the deadline District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe set for the administration to restore the site to its condition before the Jan. 22 abrupt removal of the exhibits. Park Service staff bbegan reinstalling exhibits Thursday, placing back 16 out of 34 exhibits as of that evening.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/presidents-house-injunction-stay-slavery-exhibits-20260220.html

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Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203/gov.uscourts.ca3.127203.11.0_2.pdf


Most of it should have been restored by now (at least 1/2 of the panels were back up at the end of yesterday and this order didn't come out until just before the deadline today). At least the appellate judge decision indicated "no replacement" stuff either (which DOI lied about, claiming they were planning for something else).

And if the weather forecasts hold for the late weekend and early next week, it's about to be reburied again.

REFERENCE (includes earlier references) - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143618692

[C_U_L8R]

1. Something is wrong with the world

when an awful person like Trump, clearly a criminal, a conman, and (his words) a totally sleazebag, is gifted every break and advantage and loophole. It just isn’t right. And doesn’t seem to be what many think is fair justice. It’s so vile it sickens my heart.

[walkingman]

2. I don't think something is wrong with the world. I think it is obvious something is

wrong with America. It is not only Trump, it is a reflection of American society. It is obviously not sustainable and I fear what is to come cannot be good.

[Prairie Gates]

3. The Trump lawyers' case is so goofy (I hesitate to call them the federal government)

They argue that the President's House is maybe not part of the Independence Park site, and so it is not included in the relevant agreements. They argue that the removal of the materials is not a completed act under the relevant agreements. They argue that the most recent agreement (called the Third Amendment to the agreements) is no longer in force, while the agreement itself clearly states that it is perpetually in force unless superseded explicitly.

Honestly, the lawyers for the NPS ought to be ashamed of themselves. They know these are bullshit arguments in the service of "Stephen Miller can do whatever he wants."

In this case, the agreements are so clearly relevant and the removal so clearly required consultation with the City that one can only imagine that it is a test case for Miller to see just how far right wing judges will bend over to allow Trumpian overreach. It's not a close call here in terms of the law and governing agreements. Unless, and this is possible too, Miller and Co. didn't know about the clear-as-day agreements about the site and just decided to do what they wanted, trying to piece together these absurd arguments after the fact.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Those agreements came about under Shrub back in 2007

and particularly when they started the excavation and discovered the slave passages and slave quarters. That's when the idea of actually creating that whole structure and making it an exhibit, came about.



This whole square block is one of the most historic in this country when it comes to the founding of this nation (that open park area used to be businesses during the 1800s and 1900s all the way until the 1960s, when they ripped them all down) -



That house was the first "White House" before Washington D.C. even existed.

There's a somewhat similar structure/framework of where Ben Franklin's House stood just a few blocks from there behind the ORIGINAL U.S. Post Office that he created from his print shop.

The front



The rear



These people need to get up off the "Rocky" and "cheesesteaks" crap when they talk about Philadelphia.

[electric_blue68]

4. Effin' drimphf, Miller et al Continuing to make racism "great" again....

😬😬😬😬😬

If I find the doorway to the Mdme President Harris & VP Walz Timeline ; I'll let you all know!!!

*sighhhh*

[mysteryowl]

6. Noooooooo!

Enough of this crap!