A Trump administration lawyer told a federal appeals court on Friday that, in the Justice Department's legal view, even a rapid government decision to level the Statue of Liberty would be effectively beyond the reach of the courts. The hypothetical came from Judge Patricia Millett of the DC Circuit as she pressed DOJ attorney Yaakov Roth on the limits of presidential power in a case over President Trump's controversial White House ballroom project, which has already led to the demolition of the East Wing, per Politico.
"When did it become a fait accompli?" Millett asked of the ballroom. "If this were complete lawlessness by the government ... it couldn't be stopped?" "On these theories, I think that's right," Roth replied, adding, per the AP: "I think it would have been improper to enjoin it even on Day 1." He agreed that not even the Supreme Court could prevent the ballroom from being built, per ABC News. That's when Millett brought up the beloved structure in New York Harbor.
"If the government decides, very quickly, to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty ... nothing can be done?" she queried, per Politico. Roth's answer: "I think that's right, yes." The National Trust for Historic Preservation is suing, arguing that the White House grounds are a national park that can't be significantly altered without Congress' OK.
Roth countered that the courts have no business stopping the project at this stage, even if it were later deemed illegal, saying any remedy would have to come from lawmakers and that national security needs outweigh "aesthetic" complaints. Millett and Judge Bradley Garcia (Obama and Biden appointees, respectively) sounded doubtful; Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, questioned whether the trust had standing to sue in the first place. A lower-court judge briefly froze construction in March, but the DC Circuit quickly allowed work to resume as the legal fight continues.
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