President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project was temporarily halted Tuesday by a federal judge.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation had sued the Trump administration after the destruction last fall of the White House’s East Wing.
The preservation group argued that Trump needed Congressional approval before making such major changes to the White House.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in his decision that no statute ‘comes close’ to giving the President the authority to take on the project without Congressional oversight.
‘It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project,’ he wrote. ‘The President may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds.’
Leon approved the Trust’s request to have work stopped on the ballroom project amid the legal fight. He gave a two-week grace period for the implementation of his order and said construction could continue on portions of the project relevant to the security of the White House.
The judge, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, previously said he believed his decision will be appealed and the case could end up in the Supreme Court.
The President responded to the news with a furious Truth Social post.
President Donald Trump holds up an image of his proposed ballroom during an Air Force One trip on Sunday
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration in December after the White House’s East Wing was torn down with zero oversight
In it, he labeled the National Trust for Historic Preservation a ‘Radical Left Group of Lunatics.’
He then bemoaned how the White House ballroom and his takeover of the Kennedy Center have been the subject of lawsuits, but not the Federal Reserve headquarters renovations nor California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ‘RAILROAD TO NOWHERE.’
‘So, the White House Ballroom, and The Trump Kennedy Center, which are under budget, ahead of schedule, and will be among the most magnificent Buildings of their kind anywhere in the World, gets sued by a group that was cut off by Government years ago, but all of the many DISASTERS in our Country are left alone to die,’ Trump posted. ‘Doesn’t make much sense, does it?’
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a Congressionally chartered organization that was funded by the federal government for 30 years after the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act.
It now lives off private donations.
The Trust sued the Trump administration in December after the East Wing had already been turned to dust.
The group encouraged the White House to go through the traditional review processes used for these types of projects.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated …