A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Department of the Interior can in fact remove and replace a slavery exhibit at the site of the United States' first executive residence in Philadelphia.

The exhibit was removed “without notice” from the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park earlier this year, in a move “presumably pursuant” to President Donald Trump’s executive order to remove signs and exhibits that “contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times)." 

A three-person panel on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court did not have the authority to block the president's order because Philadelphia does not own the President's House or the Independence National Historical Park, according to The Hill.

“The Court should not have considered the merits in its jurisdictional analysis,” Judge Thomas Hardiman wrote. “And while the Court was ultimately correct to conclude that the City has standing, it did so on an incorrect (and premature) understanding of the relevant statutory and contractual agreements.”

The city initially sued the Trump administration in January for allegedly violating its 2006 contract with the city about the property, which stated that the federal government would be responsible for maintaining the site. However, one part of the agreement included a requirement that the government must have mutual agreement for changes from the city.

Hardiman also argued that the new signs and displays for the historical site were "full of historical context.”

“They highlight the momentous events that took place in the President’s House and the other sites at Independence National Historical Park,” he wrote. “They acknowledge the evil of slavery, including its injustices and hypocrisies, and, by telling the story of the nine slaves that Washington kept in the President’s House, remind us of their essential humanity.”

The order comes after Trump signed an executive order last year that calls for historical signs to “focus on the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.