US Supreme Court Allows Construction of White House Ballroom to Proceed

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Donald Trump administration to proceed with its project to build a banquet hall at the White House, as the Republican president challenges a court order that would halt much of the construction work. Chief Justice John Roberts described the project in a dissenting opinion as “likely unlawful.”

In a 5-4 decision, the justices granted the administration’s request to stay a lower court order that had stopped above-ground construction of the $400 million banquet hall.

The ruling comes amid ongoing litigation filed by a historic preservation organization seeking to stop the project.

Last year, the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit after the administration demolished part of the East Wing of the White House and began constructing the banquet hall on an 8360-square-meter site without specific congressional approval. Trump has said the banquet hall will be “the greatest of its kind ever.”

The decision, which Trump praised, was supported by the court’s six conservative justices. They wrote that the plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lacks standing to bring the suit, and added that the government would likely suffer “irreparable harm” if the project were obstructed, citing national security concerns.

Roberts, the only conservative justice to dissent, joined the court’s three liberal justices.

Roberts wrote that constructing the banquet hall “is likely unlawful,” noting that Congress possesses “full constitutional authority over the District of Columbia and federal properties,” and that it has prohibited the erection of structures on federal land in Washington, D.C., without congressional authorization.

Trump said the project includes bomb shelters, medical facilities, protection against drones and missiles, and other security features, “all interconnected as one large, very expensive, and highly complex unit.”

Construction continues in the lower levels of the banquet hall facility, where walls and floors are visible.