U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon again blocked the majority of construction on President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom.
In a 10-page opinion on Thursday, Leon noted that the circuit court had ordered him to revise an earlier ruling after Trump claimed that a national security exception would allow him to construct the entire ballroom.
Leon’s original injunction excluded “actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds, including the ballroom construction site, and provide for the personal safety of the President and his staff.”
“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated,” Leon wrote. “That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!”
“I will further clarify and amend my Order to stop only above-ground construction of the planned ballroom,” he continued. “My Amended Order does not, however, stop below-ground construction of national security facilities, work necessary to provide for presidential security, and construction necessary to protect and secure the White House and the construction site itself.”
“The exception for underground national security facilities does not include the proposed ballroom because Defendants themselves distinguished between below-ground and above-ground construction, stating that ‘the below-surface work is driven by national security concerns independent of the above-grade construction,’” the judge noted.
Above-ground construction “that is strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect such national security facilities” would be permitted, Leon said.
In a separate order, the judge clarified that White House defendants were enjoined “from taking any action in furtherance of the above-ground, physical construction of the proposed ballroom at the former site of the East Wing of the White House.”
“[S]ubject to the safety-and-security exceptions above, no such work shall proceed absent express authorization from Congress,” he added.
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