By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – A judge expressed skepticism on Tuesday at the U.S. Justice Department’s legal arguments defending construction of a $400 million ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s signature projects.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon held a hearing on a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit that has argued in a lawsuit that Trump moved to remake the White House without required approvals or congressional authorization.
Leon said he planned to decide by the end of March whether to grant the injunction, which would halt construction while the lawsuit moves forward. Leon questioned a lawyer for the Trump administration over what the judge called its shifting rationale for the president’s authority.
The judge described the administration’s argument that the ballroom was an allowable alteration to the White House as a “brazen” interpretation. Leon called the White House grounds a “special place” and an “iconic symbol” of the nation.
The National Trust sued Trump and several federal agencies in December after the president in October began tearing down the East Wing to build what he has vowed will be the “finest” ballroom in the country.
The East Wing was a part of the White House complex originally built in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and greatly expanded in 1942 during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency.
The 90,000-square-foot ballroom project is part of Trump’s broad effort to reshape Washington, including plans to build a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and revamp the Kennedy Center, a cultural landmark and performance center.
A panel of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in February voted 6-0 to approve Trump’s ballroom proposal. Trump appointed all of the commissioners in January.
Leon last month rejected an earlier bid by the National Trust to halt construction of the ballroom, ruling he could not issue an injunction predicated on the group’s arguments that the project ran afoul of administrative law restrictions and violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution relating to the disposition of federal property.
In its renewed injunction request, the National Trust argued that the project is beyond the scope of Trump’s authority because neither the president nor the National Park Service had authority to demolish the East Wing and replace it with a large event space without explicit approval from Congress.
The White House sits on federal parkland managed by the National Park Service.
The Justice Department in a March 12 filing urged the judge to again deny an injunction, saying the National Trust failed to reach the high bar of showing that Trump exceeded his authority.
The ballroom project, the Justice Department told the court, will provide the White House grounds “with modernized infrastructure, improved security and other benefits, relieving pressure on the historic Executive Mansion in order to best preserve it for future generations.”
The Trump administration also disputed that Congress must approve each individual structure built in Washington’s federal parks.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Will Dunham)
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