Justice Department Seeks Stay if Judge Halts White House Ballroom Project, Citing National Security

Overview

• In an overnight filing, the Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to stay any preliminary injunction pending appeal to the D.C. Circuit.
• The motion argues the East Wing project is imperative for national security and says a second classified Secret Service declaration will be submitted to explain the risks.
• Government attorneys contend it is unworkable to allow only security-related construction to continue because the elements cannot be feasibly separated.
• The filing warns that stopping work would leave an unsightly excavation in President’s Park and that the open site already complicates Secret Service operations.
• Judge Leon previously expressed deep skepticism of the administration’s legal authority, calling the plan a “Rube Goldberg contraption,” with a ruling on an injunction anticipated.