Without question, President Trump has been opposed by more forces – political and legal – than any president in modern history. Or maybe in our country’s entire history. But because he’s Trump, he never gives up, never stops trying to get what he wants, and that is usually a great thing for our country.
In that vein, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court Friday to clear the way for continued construction on the White House Ballroom — a $400 million, 90,000-square-foot venue to host large events and state functions, funded by private donations, currently 65 percent complete. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the emergency application, arguing that the D.C. Circuit’s injunction threatens national security and the safety of the president, his family, and executive branch staff.
The legal dispute boils down to one question: does the president need congressional authorization to renovate, improve, or expand the White House using privately donated funds? Two Obama-Biden appointed judges on the D.C. Circuit said yes. History, precedent, and basic constitutional logic say otherwise.
The appeals court majority wrote that it was “aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built.” The line is crafted to sound dispositive. It isn’t.
Theodore Roosevelt built the West Wing. FDR renovated the East Wing and the basement. Harry Truman added the Truman Balcony. None of these required congressional authorization for each nail and board. Presidents have always maintained, modified, and expanded the White House — because it is both their residence and their principal place of work, and the executive branch has inherent authority over its own facilities. The D.C. Circuit’s ruling would require congressional sign-off on decisions that previous administrations routinely made without it.
The national security argument is equally straightforward. The project includes an underground bunker that the administration says is necessary for security. Someone tried to assassinate the president at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this year. Iran has had assassination threat banners on display at its Supreme Leader’s funeral. The man who wrote the emergency application to the Supreme Court knows that the security infrastructure being built beneath the White House grounds is not optional.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to stop the project, because it is filled with left-wing nutjobs who hate this president. They are claiming, falsely, that only Congress can authorize such construction. So far, they’ve been able to find friendly left-wing judges who have equal parts of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
The Supreme Court will now decide whether to temporarily allow construction to proceed or block it while the underlying lawsuit plays out. A 6-3 conservative majority that just ruled on executive authority in the SAVE America Act context, on the White House’s Article II powers repeatedly this year, and that has consistently pushed back on lower courts overreaching into executive domain is the right court for this fight.
Sixty-five percent complete. Private funds. National security necessity. More importantly, historical precedence. The Supreme Court should let Trump finish the building. This is getting absurd.
