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WASHINGTON, D.C. | The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to continue construction of the White House ballroom, delivering a 5-4 ruling that apparently means America’s highest court has decided that, yes, presidents are allowed to build things.
In an unsigned 5-4 order, the majority granted an emergency application from the Trump administration, blocking lower court rulings that would have stopped construction on the aboveground portion of the project. At this preliminary stage, the justices concluded that the preservation groups challenging the project had not established that they had standing to sue.
“Today, we do not pass upon the legality of the government’s East Wing project. We conclude only that, based on the submissions before us, the government is likely to prevail in showing that the Trust lacks Article III standing to challenge the project in federal court and that the remaining stay factors favor relief,” the high court wrote.
In other words, the Supreme Court did not declare Trump’s ballroom legal. It simply decided that the people suing over it had not yet demonstrated that they were legally entitled to stop it.
Four justices disagreed, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who joined the court’s liberal wing consisting of Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and D.E.I. employee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Roberts argued that Congress never gave the president permission to undertake the project, an argument that apparently places the White House ballroom somewhere between an unauthorized federal building and an international incident.
“That construction is likely unlawful,” Roberts wrote. “Pursuant to its plenary constitutional authority over the District of Columbia and federal property, Congress has explicitly prohibited the construction of any “building or structure . . . on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress.”
Roberts had previously issued an administrative stay on Aug. 21, temporarily blocking the district court’s injunction while the full Supreme Court considered the administration’s request.
Monday’s ruling, however, left Roberts on the losing side of a 5-4 decision, marking another occasion when the Chief Justice found himself standing with the court’s liberal justices while the conservative majority proceeded without him.
“The White House is not just any building, and—when it comes to historic preservation—Hoagland is not just any person. In failing to appreciate as much, the Court misconceives the plaintiff’s injury, allowing the Executive’s likely infringement of the Legislature’s power of the purse and authority to regulate federal property in the District of Columbia to continue,” Roberts argued with the liberals.
“Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers,” he added.
The administration, meanwhile, considered the ruling a rather substantial victory, particularly since crews are already well into the project and apparently have little interest in waiting around for the judicial system to finish debating whether they are allowed to hold a shovel.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer described the project in a filing as an “integrated military complex” that includes a secure ballroom space that is “vitally required by national security.”
The administration has also argued that the White House needs additional security infrastructure capable of protecting the president and other officials from potential attacks.
Critics, naturally, remain unconvinced.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation argued that Trump cannot simply demolish portions of the White House and construct a 90,000-square-foot addition without congressional authorization and the appropriate reviews.
The trust has accused the administration of attempting to “outrun judicial review,” presumably by doing the radical thing known as actually building the building while the lawyers are still arguing about it.
The administration says construction is already approximately 65% complete, with crews working 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
That schedule may explain why the legal battle has become something of a race between construction workers and the federal judiciary.
About $200 million in private donations has reportedly already been spent or committed to the project. Trump initially announced the ballroom after returning to the White House, describing it as a roughly $400 million project financed primarily through private donations.
The administration subsequently demolished the White House’s East Wing last year to make room for the project.
For now, Trump gets to keep building, as will future POTUSs.
And Chief Justice Roberts gets to keep writing dissents.
Somewhere, a ballroom contractor is probably hoping the next Supreme Court order arrives after the drywall goes up.
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