Just days after a federal judge put the kibosh on President Donald Trump’s $400 million plan to renovate the White House with a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, the administration filed an emergency motion to undo the ruling.
On Friday, the Trump Administration filed a motion in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia arguing that US District Judge Richard Leon’s decision to halt the project has left the White House “open and exposed” and “threaten[s] grave national security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff,” according to Reuters.
Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that construction must halt while a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States progresses through the courts. Leon did suspend enforcement of his order was for 14 days, to allow the Trump Administration to appeal the decision. He also reviewed the administration’s national security argument and exempted any construction work necessary for the safety and security of the White House.
In the motion, filed by the National Park Service, the administration argues that the federal district court doesn’t have the constitutional authority “to entertain this suit, which rests on a single pedestrian’s subjective architectural feelings.” It further called the Trust’s claims in their lawsuit as “legally baseless” and asserts that the president “has complete authority to renovate the White House.”
Leon, last week, did not agree with that assessment, saying in his opinion that he believes the National Trust lawsuit will “succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.” In an opinion featuring 18 exclamation points, Leon dismantles each aspect of the administration’s legal argument for the renovation authority, asserting that rests with Congress.
The Trump administration had a few exclamation points of their own, writing “Time is of the essence!” in the emergency motion. It argued that the ballroom project will make a “heavily fortified” facility for the president, featuring bomb shelters, military installations, and a medical facility, per the Guardian.
Three judges will review the motion, according to the Washington Post: Obama appointee Patricia Ann Millett, Trump appointee Neomi Rao, and Biden appointee Bradley Garcia.
