(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday denied a request to impose a preliminary injunction that would have blocked construction of the White House ballroom.
While finding that the National Trust has raised “novel and weighty” arguments against the ballroom construction, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, says he does not have the power to halt it under the arguments the group has raised.
Leon’s ruling suggests an amended complaint by the historic preservationists, raising so-called ultra vires claims — effectively, that Trump has operated outside the law — would be a better basis for a cause of action.
“Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President’s constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn’t bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds,” Leon said.
A statement from the National Trust expresses disappointment over the judge’s decision but adds that the group is “pleased” that Leon encouraged the organization to file an amended complaint claiming that Trump has acted beyond his legal authority. The group says it will do so “promptly.”
Leon pledged to “expeditiously consider” an amended complaint from the National Trust raising ultra vires claims. But until one is filed, he wrote he has “no choice but to deny” the group’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Not long after, Trump falsely claimed that a federal judge “completely erased” a lawsuit seeking to stop the construction of the White House ballroom.
“Great news for America, and our wonderful White House! The Judge on the case of what will be the most beautiful Ballroom anywhere in the World, has just thrown out, and completely erased, the effort to stop its construction,” Trump wrote in the post on Truth Social.
The president then continued to claim that “not one dollar” of taxpayers’ money is being used and that the project was “ahead of schedule, and under budget.”
At a hearing last month, the judge aired his sharp skepticism about what he called a “Rube Goldberg contraption” of raising private money to fund the ballroom construction, adding he believed it was designed to avoid congressional oversight.
The Trump administration preemptively asked Leon in early February to stay any injunction he might issue, warning that the project is “imperative for reasons of national security.”
The government’s filing also says halting the construction would “leave an unsightly excavation site in President’s Park indefinitely.”
Trump initially said in July that the $400 million ballroom project would not interfere with the existing White House structure. Later, when crews began tearing down the East Wing, an official said the “entirety of the East Wing will be modernized” as the massive 90,000 square foot ballroom is built.
Earlier in February, the Commission of Fine Arts voted to approve Trump’s design plan.
The panel, made up entirely of new members appointed by Trump, did so near unanimously without further review over the “vast, vast majority” of public comments opposing the project.
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