Donald Trump’s plan to add a massive ballroom to the White House has hit another roadblock. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking the Supreme Court to keep construction paused, arguing that the administration cannot move ahead with the project without congressional authorization.
Preservation groups are now asking to block the construction of Donald Trump’s ballroom
The request arrived days after the Donald Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court itself, seeking permission to continue work while the legal battle moved through the appeals process. Trust lawyers said the administration is attempting to “outrun judicial review” instead of first securing authority from Congress.
At the center of the dispute sits a proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom carrying an estimated $400 million price tag. Construction has already involved tearing down the White House’s East Wing. The broader project also entails an underground military facility, which the administration says will strengthen security for Trump, his family, and staff (via The Guardian).
The preservation group argues that the existing court order does not stop the underground work. Its lawyers stressed that the injunction remains limited and allows construction of the military facility to continue. They also challenged the administration’s claim that the president possesses unrestricted power to reshape the White House without Congress or judicial approval.
A lower-court judge, Richard Leon, previously halted aboveground construction. An appeals court panel later upheld that pause, although it temporarily delayed its effect while the administration pursued further review. Leon, appointed by President George W. Bush, wrote that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,” he claims.
The Justice Department sees the situation very differently. In a filing with the court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court that stopping the work threatens an integrated national-security project and described the injunction as “extraordinary and unlawful.”
Chief Justice John Roberts gave the trust until Tuesday to answer the administration’s request. Sauer had asked the justices to act before the appeals court’s ruling takes effect Friday. Meanwhile, construction has continued for about 10 months, with the administration saying the project is halfway complete.
