{"id":12632,"date":"2026-06-05T20:02:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12632"},"modified":"2026-06-05T20:02:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:02:02","slug":"trump-ballroom-construction-should-not-be-up-to-courts-government-attorney-argues-in-appeals-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12632","title":{"rendered":"Trump ballroom construction should not be up to courts, government attorney argues in appeals case"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By GARY FIELDS and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Lawyers representing the federal government argued Friday that a court could not stop construction of a White House ballroom it was already underway and because of the sensitive security concerns they say the structure is meant to address.<\/p>\n

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Attorney Yaakov Roth, speaking during an exchange with U.S. Appeals Court Judge Patricia Millett, said only Congress could stop the $400 million project. The administration has been asking the court to allow it to press on without congressional approval.<\/p>\n

At issue is an April 16 order from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon for Trump\u2019s Republican administration to halt aboveground work on the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, allowed for construction to continue on belowground work on a bunker and other \u201cnational security facilities\u201d at the site.<\/p>\n

The hearing Friday centered on who has standing to challenge government steps once they have already been taken and whether that standing overrides national security.<\/p>\n

In response to hypothetical scenarios put forward by Millett, Roth agreed that the government could bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and the White House \u2014 and the descendants of immigrants who came through Ellis Island and the enslaved people who built the White House would not have legal standing to oppose the move after the fact.<\/p>\n

Millett, nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, asked Roth when the construction was a \u201cfait accompli?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWas it when you started doing the underground work, which is now totally completely integral and connected and inseparable from a massive ballroom on top?\u201d she asked. \u201cWhen did it become impossible for courts to stop this project?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Roth replied: \u201cI think it would have been improper to enjoin it even on Day One.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The exchange was one of many during the two-hour hearing before the three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The hearing concluded without a decision by the judges.<\/p>\n

The hearing concluded without a decision by the judges.<\/p>\n

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to challenge the project in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that Trump said would fit 999 people.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

It is hard to determine how the judges might rule. While there were numerous questions for Roth over the administration\u2019s authority and changing explanations of how it is moving forward, plaintiff attorney Tad Heuer also faced numerous questions.<\/p>\n

The judges pressed Heuer on standing in the case and on how basic aesthetic questions can override the national security concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have never opposed the underground construction of the bunker, which is where the government until recently has said the national security concerns lay,\u201d Heuer said. He said construction should be halted until Congress weighs in.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress can allow ballrooms to be built \u2014 it\u2019s its property,\u201d Heuer said.<\/p>\n

Government lawyers have argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese upgrades, alterations, and improvements are essential to protecting the President, his family, and his staff, as well as the White House itself, and the entire project flows from them,\u201d they wrote in .<\/p>\n

Read more Energy Department says advanced nuclear reactor first to reach critical milestone<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal lawyers argued that a court cannot halt the White House ballroom project, citing national security concerns in ongoing legal battle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump ballroom construction should not be up to courts, government attorney argues in appeals case - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12632\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump ballroom construction should not be up to courts, government attorney argues in appeals case - 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