Trump administration asks Supreme Court to lift injunction on White House ballroom construction, citing missile threat to Air Force One
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The Justice Department filed a petition urging the Supreme Court to suspend a lower-court order halting the above-ground construction of a White House ballroom, arguing that national-security concerns, including a reported missile threat to Air Force One, require the project to continue.
The White House’s solicitor general, D. John Sauer, has asked the Supreme Court to stay a three-judge panel’s injunction that bars further above-ground work on a 90,000-square-foot ballroom slated for the East Wing. The petition, filed Friday, argues that the project is part of an "integrated military complex" needed for national security, and cites a July 8 missile threat against Air Force One as evidence of the urgency.
The appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled last week that the construction must stop because Congress has not authorized the use of funds, and that the president lacks unilateral authority to proceed. The panel’s majority said the decision to demolish the existing East Wing structure and replace it with a ballroom required congressional approval.
Sauer’s filing notes that the work is on schedule, under budget, and funded largely by private donations estimated at $400 million, though Democrats have raised concerns that money from the 2022 tax-cut legislation may be supporting the project. The administration has also sought additional congressional funding, which has not been approved.
In April, a district judge ordered a halt to above-ground construction but allowed underground work, such as bunkers and medical facilities, to continue. The D.C. Circuit panel upheld that order in a 2-1 decision, emphasizing that decisions about a "massive ballroom" belong to Congress, not the executive branch.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued to stop the construction, contended that the administration is accelerating work to avoid judicial review. Plaintiffs described the effort as an attempt to "outrun the courts" and to limit meaningful relief.
During a June hearing, Justice Department lawyer Yaakov Roth suggested that presidential authority could extend to major alterations of historic sites, a point that drew criticism from preservationists. The district court had previously found that a pause in construction would not jeopardize national security, except for work essential to the White House’s safety.
The ballroom project, now about 65 % complete after ten months of work, is slated for further concrete pours and reinforcement in the coming weeks. Sauer concluded that the injunction would create disorder without serving a clear purpose.