A U.S. appeals court hears arguments about whether construction of a White House ballroom connected to Donald Trump can be stopped by the courts. In filings and in court, lawyers for the federal government tell the judges that the project, described as a roughly $400 million undertaking, is already underway and therefore cannot be paused by an order from the court. The government also argues that the ballroom’s design is intended to address sensitive security concerns, which it says involve operational and protective planning.
During an exchange, government attorney Yaakov Roth argues that only Congress has the authority to halt the project. The hearing takes place before U.S. Appeals Court Judge Patricia Millett, where the government’s position is that judicial intervention is limited in this context.
The sources agree on the core point that the federal government asks the appeals court not to block construction, citing both the project’s ongoing status and security-related considerations, while asserting that the proper body to stop it would be Congress.
