Overview
- An appeals court allowed work on the new East Wing ballroom to continue for at least one week as judges review the case and ordered the trial judge to examine the scope of a security exception.
- U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on March 31 issued a preliminary injunction that halted most above‑ground work and wrote that a president is a steward of the White House, not its owner.
- The White House and Justice Department say stopping work would endanger the president and staff, citing missile‑resistant steel, drone‑proof roofing, blast‑proof glass, bomb shelters, a medical area, and classified installations.
- The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues the ballroom can wait because underground security construction can proceed, and it says Congress must approve any major new structure on federal property.
- The project would replace the former East Wing with a roughly 90,000‑square‑foot, about $400 million building funded by private donations, and the administration signals it may go to the Supreme Court as ethics probes scrutinize the donors and precedent.