3 U.S.C. § 110: Furniture for the Executive Residence at the White House

All furniture purchased for the use of the Executive Residence at the White House shall be, as far as practicable, of domestic manufacture. With a view to conserving in the Executive Residence at the White House the best specimens of the early American furniture and furnishings, and for the purpose of maintaining the interior of the Executive Residence at the White House in keeping with its original design, the Director of the National Park Service is authorized and directed, with the approval of the President, to accept donations of furniture and furnishings for use in the Executive Residence at the White House, all such articles thus donated to become the property of the United States and to be accounted for as such. The said Director of the National Park Service is further authorized and directed, with the approval of the President, to appoint a temporary committee composed of one representative of the American Federation of Arts, one representative of the National Commission of Fine Arts, one representative of the National Academy of Design, one member of the American Institute of Architects, and five members representing the public at large; the said committee to have full power to select and pass on the articles in question and to recommend the same for acceptance. Articles of furniture, fixtures, and decorative objects of the White House, when declared by the President to be of historic or artistic interest, together with such similar articles, fixtures, and objects as are acquired by the White House in the future when similarly so declared, shall thereafter be considered to be inalienable and the property of the White House. Any such article, fixture, or object when not in use or on display in the White House shall be transferred by direction of the President as a loan to the Smithsonian Institution for its care, study, and storage or exhibition and such articles, fixtures, and objects shall be returned to the White House from the Smithsonian Institution on notice by the President. Nothing in this Act shall alter any privileges, powers, or duties vested in the White House Police and the United States Secret Service, Treasury Department, by [former] section 202 of title 3 , United States Code, and section 3056 of title 18 , United States Code.”