I’d really appreciate it if this could stay in GQ land.
How come the Republican National Committee got to decide who got tickets to the VIP section on the Mall, which I understand to be public land? 
how does that work? Are there not any laws governing public access to the Mall?
Corruption.
Moderator Note
This being GQ, let’s refrain from political jabs, especially as the first response to a question.
The OP having requested this to stay in GQ, I will take a dim view of any other posts of a non-factual nature.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Thank you Colibri.
For example, some of the posters in the pit thread referred the Hatch Act, but I thought that was about civil servants, not about control of public land?
Would the Mall be under direct control of the federal government? Or a p ark under the D.C. City government (yes, I know that’s delegated federal power). I’m just trying to understand which government agency would have control over access to the Mall?
Capitol Park Service?
The money for this event came from the National Park Service.
Executive order
So the President has direct control over parks in Washington DC?
How does an Executive Order explain anything?
It’s not like the President can actually order something outright illegal, so the question stands - what laws allow a single political party to do this? Or is there something about National Parks land that allow this to occur?
My guess is the GOP reserved the space. I base this only on the 2017 Women’s March in DC. IIRC, the coordinators wanted the march to start at the Lincoln Memorial, but since it was the day after the inauguration, it was a no-go. The inauguration committee had reserved that space long before (although there were no plans to use it that day). So we started marching on Independence Avenue instead.
Moderator Note
As I said, restrict yourself to factual answers. This appears to be a guess with no basis in fact.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Without bothering to look it up this would be my guess. It’s possible for any private function to reserve space and file for an event permit. It can even use public money for security, space and maintenance.
Back in the mists of the 90s DC station WHFS reserved some space in the shadow of the Washington Monument for a series of free concerts. I was at the first one - The Cranberries (with Chisel opening) - and a riot occurred during the Cranberries second song, ‘Linger’, and the National Park Service hadn’t placed enough security and that was the end of those shows.
But attendance was restricted is the point. How people riot and mosh at noon on a weekday to ‘Linger’ is a whole other question.
People who get permission/pay to use a government facility for an event get to say who can participate.
For example, for an aunt and uncle’s 25th anniversary they rented the lodge at a park. So only family and friends would be permitted into the lodge at that time.
You rent a room at a place in a national park, guess what? Only you get to use that room. No one else gets to barge in and yell “This is government property so I can be here, too!”
Back when the Beach Boys did 4th of July concerts on the Mall do you really think anyone could just walk up on stage next to them???
This is really pretty simple, folks.
So the Republican National Committee paid money for the privilege? How much? Is that public?
Holy smokes! Some people take their music way too seriously. What was the crowd upset about?[/highjack]
It looks like it’s a $120 application fee, and then some additional permit fees if you want to take video or snap photos of your event. The licensing and permit fees are all available on the National Parks website.
But was it the Republican National Committee that paid those fees, or the government?
Sounds like a reasonable explanation, but I have to ask if it is “the” explanation.
The National Park Service has the event, including Trump’s speech, on its own website with instructions for public access.
That implies the event is sponsored by a government entity as a public event and not a private entity like the RNC. If that is truly the case, there are still thorny ethical issues about access.
So, what’s the actual story here?
That would be my assumption as well. No different than any group getting a permit to use part of a park (or a public road ie 'block party) for their own personal space for a few hours.
I assume whatever local government has that in their jurisdiction has all the information available for public to view in an agenda.
That has already been said-The question is which personal group was supposed to control the space. The Government, or the RNC?