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WASHINGTON \u2014 A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Donald Trump administration to suspend its construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House, barring construction work from proceeding without congressional approval.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a preservationist group\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts Trump\u2019s White House ballroom project.<\/p>\n
Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, concluded that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims because \u201cno statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!\u201d the judge wrote.<\/p>\n
Leon suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days, acknowledging that the case \u201craises novel and weighty issues, that halting an ongoing construction project \u201cmay raise logistical issues.\u201d He also recognized that the administration is likely to appeal his decision.<\/p>\n
The judge ruled that any construction work that\u2019s necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House is exempt from the scope of the injunction. Leon said he reviewed material that the government privately submitted to him before concluding that halting construction wouldn\u2019t jeopardize national security.<\/p>\n
Trump, in a social media post, criticized the trust for suing him over a project that he said is being built at no cost to taxpayers. \u201cDoesn\u2019t make much sense, does it?\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.<\/p>\n
The preservationists sued to obtain an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and receives congressional approval.<\/p>\n
The White House announced the ballroom project over the summer. By late October, Trump had demolished the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that he said would fit 999 people. The White House said private donations, including from Trump himself, would pay for the planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom.<\/p>\n
Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from a pair of federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has stocked both commissions with allies.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 26, Leon rejected the preservationist group\u2019s initial bid to temporarily halt the ballroom\u2019s construction. He said the privately funded group had based its challenge on a \u201cragtag group\u201d of legal theories and would have a better chance of success if it amended the lawsuit, which it did.<\/p>\n
The administration has said above-ground construction on the ballroom would begin in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are two weeks away,\u201d plaintiffs\u2019 attorney Thaddeus Heuer said during a March 17 hearing. \u201cThe imminence is now imminent.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the hearing, Leon sounded skeptical of what he referred to as the government\u2019s \u201cshifting theories and shifting dynamics\u201d for its arguments in the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a new theory,\u201d Justice Department attorney Jacob Roth told the judge.<\/p>\n
Leon expressed frustration at Roth\u2019s attempts to equate the massive ballroom project with relatively modest construction work at the White House under previous administrations.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThis is an iconic symbol of this nation,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
The administration argued that other presidents didn\u2019t need congressional approval for previous White House renovation projects, large and small.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of those projects were highly controversial in their time yet have since become accepted \u2014 even beloved \u2014 parts of the White House,\u201d government attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n