White House ballroom construction will continue for now after Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday issued an administrative stay that keeps a lower court order on hold while the Supreme Court considers the federal government’s request for relief.
Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had ordered most above-ground work paused at the end of the day Friday. Roberts’ brief, procedural order temporarily blocked that pause, buying the justices time to review the Trump administration’s bid to halt Leon’s directive. The one-sentence stay did not specify when the Court might act.
Leon’s order has not taken effect at any point during the litigation, which has allowed the administration to press ahead with building. According to filings by U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer last week, roughly 250 workers have been on site around the clock, seven days a week, and the project is about 65% complete.
White House ballroom construction dispute and legal backdrop
The controversy began last fall when the administration demolished the East Wing to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, an area described as just under one and a half football fields. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued in December in federal court in Washington, seeking to pause the build until required approvals and congressional authorization were secured.
Judge Leon later issued an order that barred most above-ground construction but permitted underground security work, including bomb shelters and bunkers, to proceed. The directive remained stayed while the government appealed. On Aug. 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed Leon’s ruling, yet kept it on hold for 14 days to allow the government to ask the Supreme Court for intervention, which kept work ongoing.
The administration filed its application with the Supreme Court on Aug. 14. Sauer told the justices that Leon’s order would stop work on what he called an integrated military complex that includes a fully secure ballroom at the East Wing, which he argued is essential to national security. The government also argued the National Trust lacks standing to sue and disputed the appeals court’s view that specific congressional authorization is required, asserting that Congress has already empowered presidents to make alterations and improvements to the White House and has broadly authorized executive construction within national parks.
In a response filed Tuesday, the National Trust, represented by Tad Heuer of Foley Hoag, accused the administration of racing to finish the project to evade meaningful judicial review. The filing argued that the government should not be allowed to complete a ballroom it lacked authority to begin, by urging the Court to deem the case moot because the work is allegedly past the point of no return.
After not acting on the Aug. 14 request for an immediate administrative stay, Roberts, who oversees emergency matters from the District of Columbia, granted the temporary stay on Friday. The order preserves the status quo while the justices consider the government’s application.
The status of the ballroom project now moves in parallel with earlier litigation as White House ballroom construction heads to Supreme Court, where the justices are weighing whether to allow Leon’s restrictions to take effect. The case is being watched closely by preservation advocates and separation-of-powers scholars following the Court’s recent term.