A federal judge has partially halted construction on former President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, blocking above-ground work while allowing certain below-ground construction tied to national security to proceed.
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The ruling marks the latest development in a legal battle over the scope of presidential authority to carry out major construction projects at the White House without congressional approval.
U.S. District Senior Judge Richard Leon amended his earlier preliminary injunction to clarify which portions of the project must stop. His updated order permits below-ground construction activities, including “top-secret excavations, bunkers, bomb-shelters, protective partitioning, military installations, and hospital and medical facilities.”
Leon also allowed limited above-ground work strictly necessary to secure and protect those underground facilities. However, he emphasized that such work cannot “lock in the above-ground size and scale of the ballroom.”
His revised ruling came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit urged him to consider the national security implications of halting construction entirely.
Leon underscored the limits of executive authority in his order, stating that “national security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity.”
The legal dispute escalated after a federal appeals court issued a temporary decision allowing construction to continue while seeking further clarification from the lower court.
In a 2-1 ruling on April 11, a panel of judges from the appeals court permitted work on the ballroom project to proceed temporarily and directed Leon to revisit how his injunction would affect safety and security at the site.
Judges Patricia Millett and BraCdley Garcia, appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, noted uncertainty around how much of the project was essential to protect ongoing underground security upgrades.
“As a result, it remains unclear whether and to what extent the development of certain aspects of the proposed ballroom is necessary to ensure the safety and security of those below-ground national security upgrades or otherwise to ensure the safety of the White House and its occupants while the appeal proceeds,” the decision said.
The federal government has argued that construction should continue to maintain site safety and support critical security improvements tied to the project’s underground components.
In dissent, Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, warned that halting construction could prolong potential security vulnerabilities. She indicated that the federal government should have been granted a broader stay, allowing work to continue without interruption.
The case now returns to Leon’s court for further proceedings, as legal questions remain over the balance between national security needs and statutory limits on presidential construction authority. The outcome could have broader implications for future federal construction projects involving sensitive government sites.
Originally reported by Zachary Phillips, Senior Editor in Construction Dive.
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