Judge Clarifies Ban on Trump Ballroom Construction

A federal judge who halted construction of President Trump's $400 million White House ballroom clarified on Thursday that the administration can proceed with below-ground construction of a bunker and other "national security facilities" at the site. His revised order blocks most above-ground construction, reports CNBC.

• US District Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued his latest ruling in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction, the AP reports. "National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity," he wrote Thursday, per the Washington Post.

• Government lawyers had argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of possible threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles, and biohazards. Leon had barred work from proceeding without congressional approval, but he suspended enforcement of that order for two weeks. The appeals court extended that stay until Friday.
• Leon, who was nominated to the bench by George W. Bush, said he is ordering a stop only to above-ground construction of the planned ballroom, apart from any work needed to cover or secure that part of the project, "provided that any such construction will not lock in the above-ground size and scale of the ballroom." Otherwise, the Trump administration is free to proceed with construction of any excavations, bunkers, military installations, and medical facilities below the ballroom.

• "Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated," the judge wrote. "That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!"
• In his March 31 order, Leon said the project needs to be authorized by Congress. "The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families," Leon wrote. "He is not, however, the owner!"
• The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued to block construction, had asked Leon to clarify that above-ground construction was banned, the Post reports. "No matter how much the Defendants insist otherwise, the lack of a massive ballroom on the White House grounds is not a national-security emergency," the trust's lawyers wrote in a filing Tuesday. They noted that despite the administration's claim that the current situation poses a security risk, Trump continues to live at the White House.