A federal appeals court panel blocked President Trump’s ballroom construction in a 2-1 vote, saying that work must cease except for below-ground construction.
“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” the majority wrote.
“The Defendants have not shown that Congress delegated that authority to either the President or the National Park Service,” the ruling added. “Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.”
It went on to explain: “This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom. What it does mean is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorization, as the Constitution and laws require.”
U.S. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao dissented to the ruling, writing, “The district court seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach. Because the injunction is beyond the proper province of the federal courts, construction should be allowed to continue.”
President Trump noted in June that the ballroom was coming together “fantastically well.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon paused the ballroom’s construction earlier this year, arguing that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”
