White House asks appeals court to revive Trump’s ballroom plans

The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court to block a lower judge who has ordered construction to cease on President Trump’s ballroom project.

The administration said it makes no sense to force the president to ask Congress for permission before making renovations to the White House.

Officials offered their strongest defense to date of Mr. Trump’s power to carry out the teardown and rebuild, suggesting the anger over his ballroom project is out of line with history.

Government lawyers asked the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to issue an emergency ruling letting construction begin this month, as Mr. Trump has planned.

Judge Richard J. Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, halted all but the most rudimentary safety and security construction in a Tuesday ruling. He said the Constitution gives Congress power over federal property and the District of Columbia, so Congress must approve Mr. Trump’s construction plans at the White House.

But government lawyers said that cannot be right.

“Decisions about what is needed to keep the president, his family, and his staff safe rest with the president, and cannot possibly be outsourced to other branches of government, just as the president could not dictate the Senate’s building needs or architectural design,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate wrote in a filing Friday.

Mr. Trump had the old East Wing, which housed the first lady’s offices and a theater, demolished in October. He said the White House complex needed a world-class ballroom.

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The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued and, after some early legal setbacks, won Judge Leon’s order halting above-ground construction, which was due to begin this month.

“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!” the judge said.

Mr. Shumate, though, told the appeals court that’s a different standard than previous presidents have had to meet.

“Congress did not get involved with the design, planning, and architecture of either the original East Wing or the West Wing many decades ago,” he said.

Mr. Shumate asked the appeals court to issue a stay, putting Judge Leon’s decision on hold. If the appeals court won’t do that, he asked for at least a short-term stay to give the administration a chance to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in.

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Mr. Shumate said the East Wing has been altered so many times, with columns knocked down, put back, then taken out again and an addition “haphazardly” piled on top. He also said the building was severely damaged by construction of “top secret spaces” below ground.

Not only were those done without congressional approval, but also it meant the East Wing as it existed last year was far from the original building the trust said it was suing to maintain.

Besides, Mr. Shumate said, the building needed security and structural upgrades that Mr. Trump is trying to deliver, including “bullet and blast proof windows” and strengthening of the roof and walls. The assistant attorney general said the old structure couldn’t have carried those loads.

And he said the foundation was plagued with “mold, mildew and various other contaminants, some of which were not possible to have been cured.”

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Mr. Trump belatedly won approval of his ballroom plans from the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission.

The president showed pictures of his plans for the ballroom to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday. He said the latest design makes the structure “almost a twin to the White House,” matching the style and height.

He also revealed the military is building a security complex underneath the ballroom and said the building will have bulletproof glass and “drone-proof roofs.”

“I think it will be the finest building of its kind anywhere in the world,” the president said.

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• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.