Zach Montague , The New York Times; Judge Orders Construction Stopped on Trump’s White House Ballroom
A federal judge required the president to seek lawmakers’ input and pursue traditional approvals before proceeding with the $400 million replacement for the East Wing.
"A federal judge ordered on Tuesday that construction be halted on President Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, to be built in place of the demolished East Wing, saying work must come to a stop until the project receives a go-ahead from Congress.
The decision delivered the first meaningful setback to the president’s increasingly audacious efforts to redesign the White House and Washington, D.C. It came after months of litigation in front of Judge Richard J. Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush, who had previously declined to step in.
In a 35-page opinion, Judge Leon wrote that Mr. Trump likely did not have the authority to act on his own, without consulting Congress, to replace entire sections of the White House — changes that could endure for generations."
