# The Ballroom Distraction Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/letters-from-an-american-5323066/the-ballroom-distraction Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/letters-from-an-american-5323066/the-ballroom-distraction.md Podcast: [Letters from an American](https://stenobird.com/podcast/letters-from-an-american-5323066) Published: 2026-04-28T00:33:38+00:00 Episode link: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/the-ballroom-distraction Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/195695713/0feab93b78b716baf28311a315ddbfce.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/letters-from-an-american-5323066/episodes/the-ballroom-distraction Duration seconds: 551 ## Resource April 26, 2026 The Department of Justice demands that the National Trust for Historic Preservation drop its lawsuit against Trump’s White House ballroom, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate claims that the shooting at the WHCA dinner proves the need for the ballroom, The administration has awarded a $17.4 million no bid contract for the repair of two fountains, Public money will pay for the fountain repairs, By May 1st, a deadline determined by the War Powers Act, Congress must either authorize the Iran War or let Trump continue the war without congressional approval, Trump has claimed the War Powers Act is unconstitutional, The idea that the president can act without authority from Congress demolishes a fundamental principle of our democracy. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/letters-from-an-american-5323066/episodes/the-ballroom-distraction/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/letters-from-an-american-5323066/the-ballroom-distraction.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.