The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project to continue, temporarily halting a lower court order that would have stopped construction.
Chief Justice John Roberts signed a temporary order allowing work on the project to proceed while the Supreme Court considers an emergency appeal from the Trump administration, The Associated Press reported.
The intervention came just as an appeals court ruling blocking construction was set to take effect Friday.
Earlier this month, the appeals court upheld a district judge’s order stopping all construction on the ballroom, finding that the project could not move forward without congressional approval. A week later, Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court on Trump’s behalf, asking the justices to intervene.
Friday’s order does not resolve the underlying legal fight over the ballroom. Instead, it allows construction to continue for now while the high court considers the administration’s request.
The White House has argued that Trump has presidential authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings without first obtaining approval from Congress. The administration has also argued that completing the ballroom is a matter of national security, a justification that was not initially central to its case.
The project has faced scrutiny not only over the president’s authority to build it, but also over its rapidly growing price tag and how it will ultimately be financed.
Trump previously said the ballroom would be paid for entirely by private donors. The Washington Post, however, previously reported that the project’s cost could climb as high as $600 million, with as much as half potentially coming from taxpayer-backed sources.
Construction is already well underway. According to the administration, the project is roughly 65% complete, with crews working 20 hours a day, seven days a week, the AP reported.
Plans call for a sprawling 90,000-square-foot ballroom that will also include underground bunkers.
