Members of Congress Urge Supreme Court to Block Ballroom Construction, Require President to Seek Congressional Approval
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a filing today with the Supreme Court, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and 32 members of Congress urged the Justices to reject President Trump’s emergency request to allow White House Ballroom construction to continue despite lower court rulings that the president violated the Constitution and the law. The Congressional amicus brief rebuts the Trump Administration’s argument that Congress implicitly authorized the Ballroom Project in a law passed nearly 50 years ago and says: “If the President believes national-security concerns warrant the demolition or construction of federal property, the Constitution requires him to come to Congress.”
Public Citizen democracy advocate Jon Golinger said in a statement:
“If President Trump is so proud of his Golden Ballroom, why is he so afraid to ask Congress to approve it? A key reason the Constitution requires Congress to authorize the White House Ballroom Project is to ensure transparency and oversight of the “$335 million of an expected $400 million” that the White House says it’s raised from donors including corporations who have been awarded billions in government contracts and anonymous donors with secret agendas. We agree that by law Congress needs to authorize it and urge the Court to reject the White House’s desperate ‘Hail Mary’ pass.”
The Supreme Court is expected to decide by this Friday whether to intervene in the Ballroom case or to allow the Court of Appeals injunction to take effect, which would block further Ballroom construction unless and until Congress authorizes it.