A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday (August 7) ordered the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to halt the construction of a ballroom worth $400 million on the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House. This is a significant setback for the Republican leader in a case that questions the limits of his presidential powers.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, located in Washington, in a 2-1 split decision, upheld a previous court injunction obtained by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Trust filed a lawsuit last year after the administration demolished the East Wing and began construction of an 8360 square meter ballroom without congressional approval.
Legal obstacles and arguments
The appeals court suspended its ruling for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration appealed after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon twice blocked above-ground construction on the site while allowing underground work to continue. Leon, appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, previously ruled that no federal law “in any way gives the president” the necessary authority to build the ballroom without congressional approval.
The administration described the ballroom project as necessary for hosting large official events and ensuring the security of the White House. This project is the most extensive of several attempts by Trump to alter the appearance of government buildings and national monuments in downtown Washington. In a separate lawsuit, a judge recently ruled that Trump’s name was illegally added to the facade of the Kennedy Center and ordered its removal.
Defense of the project and its cost
In the ballroom case, Department of Justice attorney Yaakov Roth stated during a hearing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on June 5 that the courts have no right to evaluate a project funded by private sources and that it would be wrong to block it at any stage. Roth argued that the National Trust’s “architectural considerations” should not outweigh national security considerations, citing evidence that the former East Wing made the president and others in the White House vulnerable to attack. “They just don’t want to go to Congress,” countered Thaddeus Hoyer, an attorney for the preservation group.
Trump defended his ballroom and its cost, which doubled compared to initial estimates. Last month, he wrote on Truth Social that the cost increased because “the project became roughly twice as large and significantly higher quality than the initial proposal,” and promised that “it will be wonderful, safe, and reliable!”.
Source: Channel NewsAsia
