Public tours of the White House have been suspended indefinitely because of planned construction on the massive ballroom President Donald Trump expects to start building next month.

About a half-million people tour the White House every year, and while cancellations happen frequently, a hiatus that could stretch months or years is rare.

The administration canceled tours scheduled for September and is not accepting tour requests beyond that, according to multiple congressional offices and an email sent by the White House to congressional offices. On their websites, members of Congress gave various reasons for the moratorium: “scheduled construction,” “extensive renovations” and “construction of President Trump’s new ballroom.”

The Trump administration did not respond to questions about t

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