The East Wing of the White House is gone. Construction was supposed to start in two weeks, but something happened in the lawsuit over Trump’s construction of a ballroom at the White House.
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The conservatives suing Trump have won.
Not only did the judge block construction of the ballroom, but he also ruled that Trump did not have the authority to undertake construction projects at the White House without congressional approval.
Judge Richard J. Leon wrote:
The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of the First Families. However, he is not the owner! President Trump (“the President”) claims that Congress gave him the authority, in existing statutes, to build his East Wing Ballroom project and to do so with private funds. The plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States (“National Trust”), asserts that the President has no such authority under existing law and that a preliminary injunction is necessary to prevent irreparable harm.
I concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on its merits, because no law can give the president the authority he claims to have. As such, I must therefore GRANT the National Trust’s motion for a preliminary injunction, and the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.
The White House is located in a national park that is not owned by any president, but the key element of this decision, which I believe is overlooked, is the required congressional authorization.
Below, let’s see how a judge restored the system of checks and balances.