A US federal judge on Tuesday blocked US President Donald Trump from proceeding with any work on a huge new ballroom on the former site of the East Wing of the White House.
“The President of the United States is the guardian of the White House for future generations of presidential families. He is not, however, the owner!” wrote Judge Richard Leon.
Leon, appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, said he would delay implementation of his decision for two weeks to allow for a possible appeal.
But he warned that “any surface construction carried out in the next fourteen days that does not comply” with his decision “runs the risk of being demolished, depending on the outcome of this process”.
“Unless and until Congress approves this project through legal authorization, construction must stop!” Leon wrote, adding that the “good news” is that Trump and Congress can work to authorize the project.
“The president can, at any time, turn to Congress for express authorization to build a ballroom and do so with private funds. In fact, Congress may even choose to appropriate funds for the ballroom, or at least decide that some other financing scheme is acceptable,” Leon added.
“In any case, Congress will thus maintain its authority over the nation’s assets and its oversight over government spending,” the judge wrote. “And the American people will benefit from the fact that the branches of Government will exercise their functions prescribed by the Constitution. Not a bad result, that!”
