# How come a political party gets to decide who gets into the VIP section on public land? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544 "2019-07-05T01:20:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/1 "2019-07-05T01:20:49Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/2 "2019-07-05T01:21:57Z")
Corruption. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/3 "2019-07-05T03:09:22Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > 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 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/4 "2019-07-05T03:34:14Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/5 "2019-07-05T03:36:24Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/6 "2019-07-05T03:43:50Z")
The money for this event came from the National Park Service. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/7 "2019-07-05T03:56:27Z")
Executive order ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/8 "2019-07-05T04:07:08Z")
So the President has direct control over parks in Washington DC? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/9 "2019-07-05T04:40:39Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/10 "2019-07-05T04:46:15Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/11 "2019-07-05T04:54:13Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > Executive order **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 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/12 "2019-07-05T11:45:41Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/13 "2019-07-05T12:19:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/14 "2019-07-05T12:40:05Z")
So the Republican National Committee paid money for the privilege? How much? Is that public? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/15 "2019-07-05T13:03:50Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I was at the first one - The Cranberries (with Chisel opening) - and a riot occurred during the Cranberries second song, ‘Linger’… Holy smokes! Some people take their music way too seriously. What was the crowd upset about?[/highjack] ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/16 "2019-07-05T13:25:45Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So the Republican National Committee paid money for the privilege? How much? Is that public? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/17 "2019-07-05T14:12:14Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/18 "2019-07-05T14:35:47Z")
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](https://www.nps.gov/nama/learn/news/national-park-service-presents-2019-independence-day-celebration-in-the-nation-s-capital.htm) 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? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/19 "2019-07-05T14:42:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544/20 "2019-07-05T14:45:05Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-a-political-party-gets-to-decide-who-gets-into-the-vip-section-on-public-land/836544.md?page=2)