WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday handed a win to President Donald Trump by allowing him to move forward indefinitely with the construction of his new White House ballroom.The court, divided 5-4, granted an emergency request filed by the Trump administration, blocking lower court rulings that would have put the aboveground portion of the project on hold.This followed an interim decision along similar lines issued by Chief Justice John Roberts on Aug.
21.The legal challenge was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued that the president did not have unilateral authority to proceed with construction.In the unsigned ruling, the court said that the trust likely does not have legal standing to bring the underlying lawsuit.The court did not reach any conclusion on whether Trump has authority to carry out construction without congressional approval.“Today, we do not pass upon the legality of the government’s East Wing project.
We conclude only that, based on the submissions before us, the government is likely to prevail in showing that the Trust lacks ...standing to challenge the project in federal court,” the court said.Roberts ultimately joined the court’s three liberal justices in dissent.“Construction of the ballroom has proceeded apace for the better part of a year.
That construction is likely unlawful,” Roberts wrote.The trust’s claim for standing hinges on a declaration made by member Alison Hoagland, a preservationist who lives in Washington and serves on the organization’s board of trustees.Hoagland regularly walks by the White House, adding that she would “suffer both professional and personal injuries, including to my aesthetic, cultural and historical interests, if a ballroom of the proposed form and scale were constructed.”The Supreme Court majority concluded the court had never found legal standing in such a situation before.“To the contrary, we have repeatedly held that mere offense, disagreemen...