Meet the 26-Year-Old Ex-Receptionist Overseeing Trump’s Ballroom

President Donald Trump was so desperate to stack the commission overseeing the construction of his ballroom with allies, that he tapped his 26-year-old assistant to serve as its newest member—even though she has absolutely no expertise in art at all.

Chamberlain Harris, deputy director of Oval Office operations, was reportedly picked to join the Commission on Fine Arts, which is charged with advising the federal government on the art, design, and architectural development of Washington.

When Congress first established the Commission on Fine Arts, some 100 years before Harris was even born, lawmakers decreed that the members should be “well-qualified judges of the fine arts.” By all accounts, Harris is not one.

Harris, who served as Trump’s executive assistant when he was out of office, previously received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2019 from University of Albany with minors in communications and economics, according to an archived copy of her resume on her LinkedIn profile. A quick search of the Scholar’s Archive at SUNY Albany turns up a 2019 Honor’s Thesis titled “Missing the Mark: Obama and Trump’s use of similar communication strategies.”

Several former fine arts commissioners told The Washington Post that they could not recall a commissioner in the panel’s history who had less experience in fine arts than Harris.

So, what qualifications does Harris have? She may not know art—but she does know Trump.

“She understands the President’s vision and appreciation of the arts like very few others, and brings a unique perspective that will serve the Commission well,” said White House Communications Director Steven Cheung. “She will be a tremendous asset to the Commission of Fine Arts and continue to honorably serve our country well.”

Harris is expected to be sworn in on Thursday, when the commissioners are slated to review the latest plans for the ballroom.

In December, a federal judge ordered Trump to run decisions for the construction of a new White House ballroom through the Commission of Fine Arts. There was only one problem: the president fired all six members in October in order to clear the way for a slew of changes to the nation’s monuments. Ahead of the commission’s first meeting to discuss the ballroom, Trump embarked on a three-week hiring spree in January to refill the positions with sycophants willing to greenlight his major construction project.

After the project was initially announced last year, the price tag for Trump’s behemoth ballroom has since ballooned to $400 million. Luckily for Trump, there is no shortage of shadowy billionaires and major corporations just clamoring to foot the bill.