A federal judge has clarified the limits of permitted construction on the Trump administration’s proposed $400 million White House ballroom, allowing only below-ground work to continue while blocking above-ground building. The ruling directly rejects the administration’s argument that security concerns require the full project to proceed unimpeded. The Justice Department has since filed an appeal.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush, issued a 10-page ruling Thursday that drew a clear line between what construction activity the court will and will not allow.
Leon had previously ordered that work on the ballroom project must halt except where “necessary to ensure the safety and security” of the White House and the president. A higher court subsequently asked him to define the boundaries of that exception more precisely.
In his clarification, the judge firmly rejected the Trump administration’s position that the security carve-out effectively required the entire project to move forward. Leon wrote that accepting such an interpretation would turn his original exception “on its head,” a conclusion he said he could not accept.
The ruling permits below-ground construction to continue, along with any above-ground work needed to cover or protect those underground facilities. It draws the line, however, at above-ground construction of the ballroom structure itself.
Leon paused enforcement of the order for one week, acknowledging the government’s stated concerns. The Justice Department has appealed the ruling, signaling that the legal dispute over the project is far from resolved.
The proposed ballroom has drawn scrutiny both for its projected cost and for the legal questions surrounding its construction.
