A preservation group is once again asking a federal judge to pause all construction for a massive ballroom on the White House grounds backed by President Trump.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation first sued over the project in December, after the White House suddenly tore down the East Wing to make room for the ballroom and raised hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the 90,000-square-foot space.
In its latest court filing on Thursday, the group argued the Trump administration doesn't have legal authority to build a ballroom without congressional approval. The group says a federal law that lets the president spend money on the "alteration" and "improvement" of the White House appears to only apply to relatively "minor" projects that use money appropriated by Congress, not a large-scale ballroom funded by private donations.
The group said the administration is "poised to commence within the next month above-grade construction that will dwarf the White House, irreversibly damage the Executive Residence, and distort the grounds and layout of President's Park — all without Congressional approval, and all without meaningful consideration of the public's input."
Last month, a federal judge turned down an earlier request from the group to halt the ballroom project on other legal grounds, including that the president doesn't have constitutional authority and that the administration hasn't gone through the necessary reviews.
But U.S. District Judge Richard Leon suggested the group should have instead focused its legal challenges on whether the ballroom project exceeded the president's legal power.
The judge said that if the National Trust for Historic Preservation recasts its legal arguments along those lines, "the Court will expeditiously consider it and, if viable, address the merits of the novel and weighty issues presented."
The Trump administration has long argued that the president has broad legal authority to make changes to the White House complex, and says other presidents have made modifications.
The National Park Service expects the ballroom project to be completed in summer 2028, less than a year before the end of Mr. Trump's term. The administration has said vertical construction on the project could start as soon as next month.
The latest legal challenge comes as a federal board that oversees D.C.-area federal projects prepares to vote on the ballroom early next month. The National Capital Planning Commission — led by Trump appointees — reviewed plans for the ballroom on Thursday and heard public comments, but did not vote due to the "large amount of public input on the project," a spokesperson said.
The commission received tens of thousands of written comments on the ballroom, many of which were harshly critical of the ballroom itself, the decision to abruptly tear down the East Wing and the decision to accept private donations.
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