Chief Justice John Roberts stayed a lower court injunction on Friday, allowing construction to continue for now on a $400 million, 90,000 square foot ballroom being built on the site of the demolished White House East Wing. The order is a temporary administrative stay, not a ruling on the merits, and gives the Supreme Court more time to decide whether the project can keep going while the underlying lawsuit plays out.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued after the administration tore down the East Wing and began construction without seeking specific approval from Congress. A divided panel of the D.C. Circuit had sided with the preservation group earlier this month, ruling that Congress, not the president, holds constitutional control over federal property and its funding, but gave the government 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court before the injunction took effect.
Why Did the Administration Argue This Couldn’t Wait for a Full Ruling?
The Justice Department leaned heavily on a national security argument, telling the court that halting a crew working 20 hours a day, seven days a week, would represent an unacceptable risk given how far along the project already is, the administration says roughly 65 percent complete. The preservation group countered that the administration’s own urgency is the problem: rushing to finish construction before the courts can rule is exactly the kind of “fait accompli” strategy that makes judicial review meaningless.
The case, docketed at the Supreme Court as No. 26A203, remains open. Roberts’ stay keeps the crews working, but it settles nothing about whether a president can authorize a project of this size on White House grounds without Congress ever voting on it. The full docket, including the government’s application and the preservation group’s opposition, is available directly from the Supreme Court.
