Dem
51
Ties
1
GOP
48
On Friday, Chief Justice John Roberts, acting alone, issued a one-sentence order on the shadow docket that allows Donald Trump to keep working on the big room to hold his balls. Doing this overruled a lower court ruling that said Trump had no authority to destroy one-third of the White House and then rebuild it completely differently because it is not his house. It belongs to the American people and only Congress can decide to redo it. Roberts made no attempt to justify his order. This is not a final decision, though. The full Court will hear the case eventually. But that could be a year or two from now, at which time Trump will surely argue: "It's almost done so it would be a waste of money to kill it now." If the Court had halted the project now until a final decision is made, that argument wouldn't exist later. Here is a photo from Trump's appeal:
The legal case against the ballroom is based on the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, which state that changes to the White House (and certain other buildings) require consultation with the National Capital Planning Commission, and environmental assessment, and approval from Congress, none of which Trump has done.
Trump's original argument for the ballroom was he needed it to hold big parties for foreign dignitaries. He has since changed the argument to the need for national security and being able to shoot down drones aimed at the White House. Why a ballroom is the right way to protect against drones is not specified. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued Trump, has argued nothing in federal law gives the president legal authority to unilaterally change the structure of the White House. There is a legal requirement that certain procedures be followed and specific approvals granted and none of that has happened. By changing his argument to national security, Trump is hoping the Court will rule that yes, the president can do what he has to for national security and that trumps the law.
The argument that it is too late to turn back is bogus, of course. The East Wing was fully completed 84 years ago and still Trump destroyed it. A future Democratic president on Day 1 could use his or her power as commander-in-chief to order the Army Corps of Engineers to destroy the ballroom because the national security work Trump did was shoddy and needs to be redone. It would put the Supreme Court in an awkward position of deciding what is necessary for national security and also to say the commander-in-chief can't give an order to the Army. That would completely destroy the chain of command. Besides, if Trump can legally destroy part of the building, then any president can. (V)