Trump administration asks Supreme Court to give green light for White House ballroom construction
In his filing on Friday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the injunction, if allowed to go into effect, "would wrongfully install a single district judge as sole arbiter of what further construction is ‘strictly necessary’ to protect the safety of the President" and others.
The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to allow construction of the new White House ballroom to proceed.
The Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 on Aug. 7 to uphold a preliminary injunction, stopping construction on a $400 million ballroom on the White House's demolished East Wing.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued last year after the Trump administration tore down the East Wing to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom without authorization from Congress. Trump appealed after a district judge twice blocked above-ground construction on the site, while allowing work underground to continue. The judge had ruled that no federal statute granted Trump authority to construct the ballroom without congressional approval.
In his filing on Friday, Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the injunction, if allowed to go into effect, "would wrongfully install a single district judge as sole arbiter of what further construction is ‘strictly necessary’ to protect the safety of the President, his family, staff members, and visitors to the White House, including foreign dignitaries, and presidents and prime ministers of other countries," NBC News reported.
The appeals court ruling has yet to go into effect, and so construction continues while the Supreme Court decides whether to weigh in. The deadline for the justices to act is Aug. 21.
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