Appeals court says Trump is unlawfully constructing White House ballroom
By Devan Cole, CNN
(CNN) — A divided federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump is unlawfully constructing a massive new ballroom at the White House, possibly teeing up a high-stakes showdown over the issue before the Supreme Court.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the DC Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 ruling siding with the nation’s top historic preservation group, which sued over the project last year.
“The National Trust has shown, compellingly, that Congress has not ceded unfettered authority to the Executive Branch to dramatically redesign, reshape, and reconstruct the White House – the People’s House – to fit a particular President’s desires,” the court wrote in its unsigned opinion.
The DC Circuit said it would pause its ruling for two weeks to give Trump time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The judges who ruled against Trump are Patricia Millett, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, and Brad Garcia, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, dissented.
The majority opinion — spanning more than 100 pages — is the latest stinging judicial rebuke in the legal saga over Trump’s decision to demolish the White House’s East Wing last year to make room for the ballroom.
Earlier this year, a federal trial-level judge in Washington, DC, ordered Trump to stop with all above-ground construction until Congress blessed his plans. But the appeals court permitted him to continue with the project for now while the court considered the case. Friday’s ruling unwinds that earlier decision and makes clear that the entire project requires congressional approval.
Rao said in her dissent that she thought the National Trust did not have the legal right – known as “standing” – to bring the case in the first place, agreeing with arguments pushed by Trump’s lawyers since last year.
She criticized US District Judge Richard Leon, who first ruled against the project last spring, for elevating “the aesthetic displeasure” of the group with the project over Trump’s argument that it’s needed for national security reasons.
“The district court seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach,” Rao wrote.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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