Judge rules that White House ballroom construction ‘has to stop!’
(CNN) — A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump from moving ahead with any further work on a massive new $400 million ballroom on the former site of the White House East Wing.
“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” Judge Richard Leon wrote.
Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said he was delaying implementation of his ruling for two weeks to allow the government to appeal. But he warned that “any above-ground construction over the next fourteen days that is not in compliance” with his ruling “is at risk of being taken down depending on the outcome of this case.”
The Trump administration immediately told the judge it will appeal.
The crux of the issue, Leon concluded in his decision, was that Trump had not received approval from lawmakers to undertake the bold construction project, which he said was required by federal law.
“(U)nless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” he wrote, adding that the good news” is that Trump and Congress can work to authorize the project.
Trump, a former real estate developer, has been personally involved in ballroom details, from floor plans to marble selection.
“I’m so busy that I don’t have time to do this, but – I’m fighting wars and other things, but this is very important, because this is going to be with us for a long time,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday evening, adding, “I think it’ll be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world.”
The ballroom project has an estimated size of approximately 89,000 square feet, according to lead architect Shalom Baranes. By contrast, the primary White House structure, the Executive Mansion, is just 55,000 square feet.
Trump has maintained that the project isn’t subject to any oversight and that he should be able to continue with it without any serious scrutiny. He has promised it will be complete in the summer of 2028, months before he leaves office.
The president fired off a post on social media moments after the judge’s ruling, calling the historic preservation group that brought the legal challenge a “Radical Left Group of Lunatics.” The lawsuit, he said broadly, “Doesn’t make much sense, does it?” He did not address whether he planned to appeal.
Judge says Congress can approve
Throughout the 35-page ruling, Leon repeatedly emphasized that Congress has a role to play in the project.
“The President may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds,” Leon wrote. “Indeed, Congress may even choose to appropriate funds for the ballroom, or at least decide that some other funding scheme is acceptable.”
“Either way, Congress will thereby retain its authority over the nation’s property and its oversight over the Government’s spending,” the judge wrote. “And the American people will benefit from the branches of Government exercising their constitutionally prescribed roles. Not a bad outcome, that!”
In ruling against Trump, Leon also said the president had improperly relied on a federal law that gives presidents the authority to use congressional funds for the “care, maintenance, repair” and “alteration” of the White House, among other things, to justify his decision to unilaterally move ahead with construction.
That law, the judge said, does not allow for the “wholesale demolition of entire buildings and construction of new ones.”
“Under defendants’ reading, virtually any change to the White House could be framed as an ‘alteration’ or ‘improvement,’” he wrote. “Indeed, some might even view tearing down the White House and building a modem skyscraper in its place as an ‘improvement.’”
The case was brought last year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nation’s top historic preservation group, which argued Trump was acting unlawfully when he pushed ahead with the project without congressional approval.
In earlier rounds of legal wrangling over the ballroom, Leon declined to intervene after he was unpersuaded by the group’s arguments. But after the group pushed new claims earlier this month, it became clear that the judge did not think Trump was acting lawfully.
CNN has reached out to the White House and to the office of Speaker Mike Johnson for information on next steps and whether Congress could ultimately vote on a bill to approve the project.
Carol Quillen, the president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, meanwhile, called Tuesday’s ruling “a win for the American people.”
“We are pleased with Judge Leon’s ruling today to order a halt to any further ballroom construction until the administration complies with the law and obtains express authorization to go forward,” she said.
In a phone interview with CNN, Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, which would have some jurisdiction over the project should it ultimately come to Congress, said he planned to be “very actively engaged” going forward.
“I think there’s no other way to read this; they have to come to Congress. I know they hate doing this, but we are not potted plants in the legislative,” Huffman said.
The White House has repeatedly said that any above-grade construction could begin as soon as April – and the ruling also comes days before a key commission stacked with Trump loyalists is expected to green-light the plans.
The National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation’s capital, is set to hold a final vote on the project Thursday morning that is widely expected to pass despite thousands of public comments overwhelmingly opposing the plans.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Judge Leon was appointed by President George W. Bush.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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