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Supreme Court Temporarily Clears Trump's White House Ballroom Construction
· Confirmed
In Short: The Supreme Court has temporarily cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s administration to continue construction on the White House ballroom, halting a lower court injunction from taking effect while the justices consider the administration’s emergency request.
Government lawyers told the Court that the overall project is about 65 percent complete and that approximately 250 workers have been operating as much as 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
The administration sought emergency relief on August 13, arguing that stopping construction would interfere with national security and presidential protection.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued the order Friday, hours before restrictions on much of the construction were set to begin.
The administration argues that halting the work at this stage would create significant construction problems and that major changes to the structure are no longer practical.
The appeals court upheld the injunction after concluding that the administration had not shown it could undertake construction of that scale without congressional authorization.
The organization told the Court that the lower court injunction already permitted underground construction and other work necessary to protect the president, White House personnel, and the property.
CNBC noted that legal experts have widely expected that the question of sports-related event contracts, and whether state gaming regulators or the CFTC has the right to regulate them, will eventually reach the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of its ban on transgender service members in the military.
The court's willingness to allow the work suggests the justices have already voted to grant the White House a stay and are holding off an announcement while a dissent is being crafted, says Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown Law Center professor who closely follows the court's docket.
The one-page administrative stay gave no explanation and said nothing about the likelihood of Trump securing the necessary five votes for a longer-term order to let construction continue without restriction while the litigation proceeds.
The group challenging the construction, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, told the justices Trump is trying to 'outrun judicial review' and make the ballroom a 'fait accompli.'
The court generally has come to Trump's aid on emergency matters in his second term, letting him implement his policies while legal fights go forward, even after lower courts have said the administration is acting illegally.
What this adds
The Supreme Court's decision to allow construction to continue on the White House ballroom is a significant development in the ongoing legal battle over the project's legality. The court's action suggests a potential shift in the justices' stance, with some indicating that the project may be unconstitutional.
Background
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow construction of a border wall and roads in Texas' Big Bend region.
The new Supreme Court term began on October 5, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is expecting another busy term, possibly surpassing last year's record of six cases decided on the merits docket.
What's confirmed
- Government lawyers told the Court that the overall project is about 65 percent complete and that approximately 250 workers have been operating as much as 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
- The administration sought emergency relief on August 13, arguing that stopping construction would interfere with national security and presidential protection.
- Chief Justice John Roberts issued the order Friday, hours before restrictions on much of the construction were set to begin.
- The administration argues that halting the work at this stage would create significant construction problems and that major changes to the structure are no longer practical.
- The appeals court upheld the injunction after concluding that the administration had not shown it could undertake construction of that scale without congressional authorization.
- The organization told the Court that the lower court injunction already permitted underground construction and other work necessary to protect the president, White House personnel, and the property.
- CNBC noted that legal experts have widely expected that the question of sports-related event contracts, and whether state gaming regulators or the CFTC has the right to regulate them, will eventually reach the Supreme Court.
- The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of its ban on transgender service members in the military.
- The court's willingness to allow the work suggests the justices have already voted to grant the White House a stay and are holding off an announcement while a dissent is being crafted, says Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown Law Center professor who closely follows the court's docket.
- The one-page administrative stay gave no explanation and said nothing about the likelihood of Trump securing the necessary five votes for a longer-term order to let construction continue without restriction while the litigation proceeds.
- The court generally has come to Trump's aid on emergency matters in his second term, letting him implement his policies while legal fights go forward, even after lower courts have said the administration is acting illegally.
What's still developing
- Yesterday marked 59 years since the Senate confirmed the nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court, clearing the way for him to become the first Black justice.
- Talwani found that the rule “was likely unconstitutional and exceeded the agency’s authority.” The Times noted that the “issue will likely be settled by the Supreme Court.” On Friday, the U.S.
- On Friday, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland “declined to immediately block U.S. President Donald Trump’s newest executive order limiting the number of people eligible for birthright citizenship, even as she sharply questioned its viability after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his previous effort to do so,”.
- On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit “ rejected prediction market platforms’ requests for injunctive relief against the Nevada Gaming Control Board, concluding that sports-related event contracts are not a derivative regulated by the federal government” and are, instead, subject to state gambling laws, according to CNBC.
- "every day added to the project is another day impairing full security."
- "So the fact that Chief Justice Roberts' administrative stay is still in effect seems a pretty strong indication that the full court is going to agree."
- “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 [National Trust for Historic Preservation] lacks Article III standing to challenge the project in federal court and that the remaining stay factors favor relief,” the justices wrote.
- “The White House is an iconic American building whose symbolism and history are wrapped up in its architecture,” the dissent reads.
- A dissenting opinion signed by Roberts, along with liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, indicates the court’s remaining conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Brett M.