Judge rules construction of Trump's White House ballroom can continue for now
CBSN
A federal judge has allowed the Trump administration's ongoing construction of the White House East Wing to continue for now, finding that a legal challenge brought last year was not comprehensive enough to prove President Trump lacked the authority to renovate the building with private funds and withoug Congressional action.
A federal judge has allowed the Trump administration's ongoing construction of the White House East Wing to continue for now, finding that a legal challenge brought last year was not comprehensive enough to prove President Trump lacked the authority to renovate the building with private funds and withoug Congressional action.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the legal challenge brought by a preservationist group failed because the White House Office of the Executive Residence is not a government agency, and said that he cannot address the merits of the "novel and weighty issues" raised by the challenge without an amended challenge.
In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. sued the administration for failing to adhere to federal guidelines prior to demolition and construction. The Trust also questioned the project's funding mechanism.
The Trust, Leon wrote, "bases its challenge on a ragtag group of theories," adding that because the executive residence is "likely not an agency" under the Administrative Procedures Act, a federal law that governs how administrative agencies propose and issue regulations, the Trust may not challenge the construction under that law.
"Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President's constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn't bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds," Leon wrote, adding that if the Trust amends its challenge, he will reconsider their new arguments.
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