Federal judge blocks above-ground White House ballroom construction

A federal judge on Thursday said above-ground work on the White House East Wing must stop, but underground construction on a presidential bunker can continue. 

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who in March temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom to replace the White House’s East Wing, clarified his order Thursday after a federal appeals court ordered him to reconsider the national security implications of halting the construction.

In revising his order, Leon allowed “above-ground construction strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect such facilities” underground and said construction on national security facilities that would be located underneath the ballroom can continue, “provided that any such construction will not lock in the above-ground size and scale of the ballroom.”

Waterproofing, water management, structural reinforcement and sealing off exposed construction areas are allowed, Leon said.

President Trump responded to the ruling on Truth Social: “This highly political Judge, and his illegal overreach, is out of control, and costing our Nation greatly. This is a mockery to our Court System! The Ballroom is deeply important to our National Security, and no Judge can be allowed to stop this Historic and Militarily Imperative Project.”

Leon’s order stopping construction was set to be enforced starting April 14, but on Saturday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia extended the stay three days to allow for the administration to seek Supreme Court review.

The panel ordered Leon to clarify how his order impacts the Trump administration’s plans for presidential safety and security during the construction project. 

Lawyers for the Justice Department argued in their appeal of Leon’s order that his ruling “would imperil the President and national security and indefinitely leave a large hole beside the Executive Residence.” They argued that the new East Wing plan “advances critical national-security objectives,” to protect the president and sensitive below-grade military facilities from “hostile attacks via drones, ballistic missiles, bullets, biohazards.”

Mr. Trump, in a separate social media post said that “the underground doesn’t work, isn’t necessary, and would indeed be useless, without the above ground sections.”

Leon’s new order has been stayed for seven days to allow the government to appeal, and the Justice Department filed an appeal Thursday.

President Trump announced plans for a privately funded White House ballroom last summer and unexpectedly demolished the East Wing in October. The National Trust for Historical Preservation sued to block construction of a new East Wing late last year.