Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has cleared the way for President Trump to keep building his new ballroom at the White House, putting on hold a lower court ruling that had said he needed Congress’s permission.
The chief justice issued a brief order Friday announcing the move.
He said the lower court ruling is “hereby stayed pending further order” from himself or the full court.
That doesn’t end the legal wrangling, but it does give Mr. Trump permission to keep building while the case develops.
And construction is going at a breakneck pace. A 250-person crew is working 20 hours a day in two shifts, seven days a week, according to court filings in the case.
Mr. Trump noted the ruling with a social media post sharing a news story about the order.
The president had the old East Wing complex razed last fall, without getting permission from Congress or several boards that oversee construction in the monumental core of the city.
He then began construction on the ballroom — which is being paid for by private donations — again without permission from Capitol Hill.
The ballroom has become a major test of his power and prestige, with Mr. Trump devoting an extraordinary amount of attention to it. He even devoted a portion of his remarks at the White House Correspondents Association dinner to defending the need for the ballroom.
The legal case raised two significant issues.
The first was whether the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private group, had legal standing to bring the case.
Lower courts found that a member of the trust is suffering an “aesthetic” injury by the loss of the old East Wing.
The second issue was whether a president could alter the White House complex without congressional approval.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a 2-1 decision, said the Constitution grants Congress authority over federal property, and Mr. Trump trampled on that.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for executive self-help,” wrote Judges Patricia Millett and Brad Garcia, both Democratic appointees.
Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, issued a forceful dissent saying presidents have always had the ability to make improvements to the White House residence, and because the new ballroom is intimately connected to the residence, the president is on firm ground.
She also mocked the idea that someone’s displeasure at the aesthetics of the White House was enough to bring a case.
“The district court elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the president’s home and office,” she wrote.
The appeals court had stayed its own ruling for two weeks to give Mr. Trump the chance to ask the justices for a review.
Mr. Trump had mocked the lower courts for allowing the trust to move ahead with the case.
He said the group had “absolutely no standing” to sue, and he called the organization “TREASONISTS” for opposing him.
Mr. Trump initially defended the ballroom as a world-class gathering space to welcome foreign leaders and host major conferences and dinners.
But increasingly he’s cast the project as a security matter.
He said the ballroom is combined with upgrades, including a “drone-proof” ceiling, blast-proof glass, bomb shelters, missile-resistant columns and “top secret military facilities.”
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