Judge allows construction of Trump-initiated White House ballroom to continue
A federal judge has issued a temporary order allowing construction of the disputed White House ballroom to continue while the Trump administration's appeal is being reviewed. A lower court had ordered work halted because Congress never approved the project.
On Friday, Judge Roberts signed a temporary order permitting work to continue on the new White House ballroom while the court reviews an appeal filed by the Trump administration. The order temporarily suspends a lower court ruling that required construction to stop, since the project was never approved by Congress.
The lower court's ruling had been set to take effect on Friday, but the temporary order prevented that from happening.
The administration's arguments
The Trump administration argues that the president has full authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings as he sees fit. It also states that the ballroom project must be completed for national security reasons, since a military bunker is planned beneath it. This reasoning differs from the original justification: when Trump first announced plans for a new ballroom, he emphasized that it would be funded through private donations, including his own, rather than citing security needs.
Objections to the project
The National Trust for Historic Preservation contends that Trump does not have unilateral authority to carry out this work, which has already included the demolition of the White House's East Wing. The organization's lawyers argue that the White House is trying to speed up construction in order to get ahead of the courts, effectively making a future halt order irrelevant.
Progress of construction
According to court documents, the Trump administration states that 65% of the work has already been completed. Construction crews are working 20 hours a day, seven days a week, and roughly $200 million in private donations has already been spent or allocated to the project.
