Overview
- The Justice Department filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court to pause lower‑court orders that would stop above‑ground construction on the new White House ballroom while litigation continues.
- A three‑judge D.C. Circuit panel upheld a district judge’s injunction on Aug. 7 that blocks above‑ground work but allows underground security construction to proceed, and that pause was set to take effect later this week unless the high court intervenes.
- The administration tells courts the project is roughly 65% complete and frames it as a ‘highly integrated military complex’ needed for the president’s safety, citing recent attacks and threats as justification.
- The National Trust for Historic Preservation urged the Supreme Court to leave the injunction in place, saying the White House accelerated work to make the ballroom too costly or impractical to undo and that Congress, not the president, must authorize such construction on federal property.
- The case has drawn partisan amicus briefs with Democratic lawmakers backing the Trust and a group of Republican state attorneys general supporting the administration, and the Supreme Court could rule on the emergency application this week.