President Trump is taking the White House ballroom fight straight to the Supreme Court.

His administration has filed an emergency application asking the justices to keep construction moving while it challenges a lower-court order that would halt the aboveground work.

The request is urgent: that injunction is scheduled to take effect on August 21 unless the Supreme Court intervenes.

And the filing makes clear this is no longer being presented as a fight over a fancy event space. The administration says the ballroom is part of an integrated, secure military complex that is vital to national security.

The emergency appeal and its national-security argument broke Friday afternoon:

ADVERTISEMENT

The Supreme Court’s official docket identifies the matter as National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation, application 26A203.

It shows that the application was submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts on August 13 and placed on the docket Friday. Roberts has ordered the challengers to respond by noon Eastern on Tuesday, August 18.

The administration is asking for two things: an immediate administrative stay before August 21, followed by a longer stay while it prepares a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the dispute.

The docket does not show a ruling from the justices yet. At this stage, Roberts has set an accelerated briefing schedule so the National Trust can answer the government’s emergency request before the lower-court order is due to take effect.

That schedule gives the Court only a narrow window to decide whether construction may continue during the next phase of the appeal.

Trending Politics News first flagged the emergency Supreme Court move Friday, reporting that the administration is trying to stop the injunction from freezing construction while the appeal proceeds.

The request follows a 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That panel left in place a lower-court ruling that President Trump cannot continue the aboveground ballroom work without authorization from Congress.

The lower court paused its own order for two weeks so the administration could seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court. Work below ground for security purposes was allowed to continue.

To understand how the fight reached this point, go back to March 31. That was when Judge Richard Leon ordered the construction halted unless Congress authorized it:

ADVERTISEMENT

Now the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to step in before that legal clock runs out.

The official emergency application argues that the National Trust lacks standing to sue and that federal law gives the president broad authority to alter and improve the White House and build on National Park Service land.

It says the project is already about 65% complete and has moved beyond the point where major design changes are practical. The administration warns that suddenly stopping work would leave a massive open construction site beside the White House and create fresh security risks.

The filing also lays out what officials say is inside the broader project: hardened construction materials, shelters, medical capabilities, secure communications, protection against drones and missiles, and space for large diplomatic and ceremonial events without relying on vulnerable outdoor tents.

One of the most striking sections cites recent threats against President Trump. The application says a missile threat against Air Force One on July 8 forced security officials to move him through a catering truck and secretly fly him out of Turkey on a different military aircraft.

That security argument is central to the administration’s case. The government is telling the justices that courts should not force the executive branch to separate the ballroom from the hardened facilities beneath and around it when the entire complex follows one integrated design.

The Associated Press reports that the project spans roughly 90,000 square feet and that the administration says approximately $400 million in private donations means taxpayer money is not needed for the ballroom itself.

The challengers dispute the administration’s urgency. The National Trust accuses the White House of trying to outrun the courts by accelerating construction before the injunction takes effect.

The outlet also notes that the D.C. Circuit panel divided 2-1 and that the administration wants the justices to rule before August 21. Chief Justice Roberts’ Tuesday response deadline means both sides will be before the Court within days, not weeks.

ADVERTISEMENT

The administration’s no-taxpayer-cost argument is not new. The Trump War Room was making that point last October, months before the latest emergency filing repeated the privately funded case:

The legal question now lands on Chief Justice Roberts and the rest of the Court.

At the immediate stage, the justices do not have to settle every dispute over presidential authority or the ballroom’s final fate. They must decide whether construction can continue while the administration asks them to take the full case.

President Trump promised to appeal after the D.C. Circuit ruling. One week later, his administration has made good on that promise with an emergency request carrying a national-security warning and a fast-approaching deadline.

The challengers’ response is due Tuesday. After that, the Supreme Court could act at any time.

The full emergency application and Supreme Court docket are linked above.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.