Supreme Court
Supreme Court, 5–4, allows White House ballroom construction to continue
4D AGO · Mon. 4:10 p.m. EDT
An unsigned order pauses a federal judge’s halt on above-ground work. The majority said the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely lacks standing and did not decide whether Congress had to approve demolition of the East Wing. The administration has told the court the project is about two-thirds complete and includes underground security construction.
White House grounds · 90,000-square-foot ballroom site
Center-left view
Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson. Roberts wrote that “the White House is not just any building,” that construction is “likely unlawful,” and that the result is “no victory for the separation of powers.” Lower courts had said the work likely required a statute Congress did not pass. POLITICO, SCOTUSblog, and Slate report the preservation challenge that way.
Sources: POLITICO · SCOTUSblog · Slate
Center-right view
The majority said the Trust had not shown a concrete injury and credited the government’s filing that stopping a 250-person, 20-hour-a-day job would create security and engineering risk. Underground bunkers were already allowed to proceed. Solicitor General D. John Sauer’s briefs, as summarized by SCOTUSblog and JURIST, treat historic-preservation standing as the issue, not a public veto on the working residence.
Sources: Court majority via SCOTUSblog · JURIST · Solicitor General D. John Sauer filings, quoted in those reports