In brief
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the construction of President Trump's White House ballroom can continue while litigation is ongoing. This decision reverses a previous order by a lower court that temporarily blocked construction due to claims that the project required Congressional approval. The complex is positioned as vital for national security and military operations, according to the administration, while the opposition raises concerns about compliance with historical preservation laws.
Construction of the underground and above ground portions of US President Donald Trump's White House ballroom will be allowed to continue, an appeals court has ruled.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted an administrative stay after the Trump administration appealed against US District Judge Richard Leon's decision to halt above-ground construction on Thursday.
Construction is now expected to continue until the next hearing, which is due to take place on 5 June.
This week's rulings came after the appeals court ordered the judge to reconsider the national security implications of halting the work after he temporarily blocked all construction of the ballroom in March.
The ruling marks a victory for the president in his effort to redesign the storied American structure.
Leon said on Thursday that he thought the project required congressional approval, adding that the administration reclassifying the ballroom plans as vital for national security appeared to be an attempted workaround. National security is not a blank cheque to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity, he wrote.
Following the ruling, Trump took to Truth Social to accuse the judge of attempting to prevent future Presidents and World Leaders from having a safe and secure large scale Meeting Place.
It's all tied together as one big, expensive, and very complex unit, which is vital for National Security and Military Operations of the United States of America! he wrote, adding that the underground complex would include bomb shelters and medical facilities.
He also said that the ballroom was needed now and that no judge can be allowed to stop it.
The Justice Department filed an appeal against Leon's ruling on Thursday, arguing it would imperil the president and national security and indefinitely leave a large hole beside the Executive Residence.
The judge temporarily halted the construction project in late March, ruling that proper procedures were not followed before it had begun. That decision came after the White House was sued by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The preservation group's lawsuit, filed last year, alleges that the White House broke the law when it started construction on the ballroom and bunker without filing plans with the National Capital Planning Commission and by declining to seek authorization from Congress.
The East Wing of the White House, constructed in 1902, was demolished in October to make way for the multi-million-dollar ballroom, which will have a capacity for 1,350 guests.
The White House has said the project was expected to cost $400m (£302m) and was being funded entirely by private donors.
