A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed a federal judge’s ruling to block construction of the White House ballroom while allowing below-ground construction to move forward.
But the federal appeals judges put their own order on hold to give the Trump administration an opportunity to seek Supreme Court review.
In a 2-1 decision, the court affirmed the modified preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon. But they stayed their own ruling for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
“The Constitution assigns Congress — not the Executive — the responsibility to decide whether proposed changes to the physical design of the White House may proceed, even where those changes are said to serve security interests,” the ruling said.
A federal judge had previously let some aspects of the construction to move forward, but then said the Trump administration was taking advantage of a safety and security exception to encompass the entire ballroom construction effort.
“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated. That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!”Leon, a noted fan of exclamation marks, wrote in his prior April order.
“It is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception!” he added.
