A US federal appeal court ordered Donald Trump’s administration on Friday to stop construction on a US$400 million ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, dealing the Republican leader a major setback in a case testing his presidential authority.
“Each president is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House” and cannot fundamentally reshape it without congressional approval, the Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a 2-1 opinion.
The order upheld a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year after the administration tore down the East Wing and began building a 90,000 sq ft (8,360-square-metre) ballroom without seeking authorisation from Congress.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for executive self-help,” the panel’s majority wrote.
The appeal court placed its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Trump, who has increasingly claimed that the ballroom project is a security necessity, referred to the structure as a “military centre” in a social media post on Friday and said the administration would appeal to the Supreme Court.