It's a short term win, but nevertheless a win for President Trump. A federal judge refused to shut down construction on Trump's ballroom project, at least for the time being.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon denied a motion by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that would have temporarily blocked the Trump administration's construction of a new ballroom at the White House, but he set out some requirements for the Trump administration moving forward.
Leon said in a hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C., that the nonprofit group had not established enough irreparable harm in order to pause the construction outright, but the judge declared construction crews cannot over the next two weeks build any below-ground structures that would determine how and where the final ballroom structure will exist. Leon said any breaking of that order would result in the White House being "forced to take it down."
The judge is requiring the government to submit construction plans to the National Capital Planning Commission by the end of the year, and the Justice Department said that the government has made "initial outreach" to set up meetings on that front.
The DOJ argued the group had no standing to challenge the work on the White House.
A Justice Department attorney argued at Tuesday’s hearing that the Trust has no standing in the case to sue and that underground construction must continue for national security reasons that were not outlined in open court. The attorney also said Trump is not subject to federal laws the Trust said he has failed to comply with.
They also argued that work below ground needed to continue for security reasons.
Leon issued the ruling after accepting a classified filing from the government detailing national security concerns about stopping the project. The submission was not made public, but it is publicly known that for decades the Presidential Emergency Operations Center was located beneath the now-demolished East Wing.
But the attorneys for the National Trust were not happy with the judge allowing any construction to continue.
“There are pile-drivers running around the clock,” [Attorney Tad] Heuer told the judge. “There’s ongoing construction. Every day you have more concrete, more footprint.”
Heuer contended that handling of the project has violated at least four federal laws and that the public is legally entitled to offer comments on the plans before they proceed.
The Trust is arguing that they just want Trump to follow the rules; but, as I argued here, it appears to me this is more about politics. Obama's White House counsel Greg Craig is donating his services to this effort. I think the goal here is to extend the East Wing talking point which went over big with a lot of Democrats and to deny him the win of getting this project finished before he leaves office. Having doubled down on the idea that Trump has done a horrible thing, they'd like to keep that going right up until a Democrat takes office at which point it will be a fantastic benefit to Gavin Newsome or Kamala Harris (or whoever).
All of their efforts are aimed at slowing this down with as much bureaucracy as possible. Hopefully the judge doesn't play along, but we'll have to wait until the January hearing to find out.
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