The Trump administration made its final arguments to the Supreme Court on Wednesday before it decides whether to allow construction to move forward on the White House ballroom, claiming President Donald Trump’s pet project is necessary for national security and discounting claims by the other side that it will ruin people’s enjoyment of the White House.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on Aug. 19.
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to overrule lower courts and allow it to keep building the White House ballroom, filing a response Wednesday to arguments made by the National Trust for Historic Preservation opposing the construction.
The National Trust has sued the Trump administration, arguing the White House doesn’t have authority to build the ballroom without congressional authorization—which lower courts have agreed with—and claiming the ballroom’s construction hurts defendants who appreciate the White House as a historical landmark, alleging it harms the building and the “aesthetic, cultural, and historical interests” of those who enjoy it.
The DOJ argued Wednesday it would harm national security to halt construction now, given security features that are being installed in the building, and took issue with the argument about the ballroom harming White House spectators—claiming that argument could lead to a “see something, sue something” culture in which people can challenge anything on government property they disagree with.
