A United States federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to stop construction of a $400 million ballroom on the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House, upholding an injunction that halts the project until Congress approves it.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that the president cannot fundamentally reshape the building without congressional authorisation.
“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House,” the majority wrote. “Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.”
The case
The ruling upholds a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued after the administration tore down the East Wing and began work on a 90,000 square foot (8,360 square metre) ballroom without seeking authorisation from Congress.
President Donald Trump had appealed after District Judge Richard Leon — an appointee of Republican former president George W. Bush — twice blocked above-ground construction while allowing underground work to continue.
Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth argued that courts have no role in weighing a privately funded project, and that the preservation group’s “architectural preference” should not override national security concerns arising from the loss of the East Wing. Thaddeus Heuer, a lawyer for the National Trust, countered: “They just don’t want to go to Congress.”
Split panel
Circuit judges Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia formed the majority. They said their order does not permanently bar the ballroom but halts above-ground work during the lawsuit, and that national security arguments “are not an automatic get-out-of-law-free card.”
Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by Trump during his first term, dissented, writing that the district court “seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach.”
The court put its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow an appeal to the Supreme Court. The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
