Preservationists Won’t Drop White House Ballroom Challenge (1)

An attorney for a historic preservationist nonprofit rejected the Justice Department’s demand to drop a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s plans to build a new White House ballroom in light of an attempted attack on a Washington gala the president attended.

A top Justice Department official’s claims that the nonprofit’s lawsuit endangers the president “is incorrect and irresponsible,” Gregory B. Craig of Foley Hoag LLP, who is representing the National Trust for Historic Preservation, told a top Justice Department official in a Sunday letter.

Craig said that Saturday’s incident, when a California man allegedly attempted to attack the White House Correspondents’ dinner, doesn’t change the fact that the president was legally and constitutionally required to get Congress’ approval to build a ballroom on White House grounds.

“Simply put, this case does not jeopardize the President’s safety in any way. And nothing prevents you from asking Congress at any time for the necessary authorization required by the Constitution and federal law,” Craig wrote.

Craig responded to a letter from assistant attorney general Brett Shumate, Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department’s civil division. Shumate told Craig in a letter Sunday that the National Trust’s lawsuit “puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at grave risk” and demanded that the nonprofit agreed to dismiss the suit by Monday morning.

If the organization doesn’t move to dismiss it by then, the Justice Department will move to dissolve an earlier court ruling against the ballroom project, Shumate said.

Craig responded that the National Trust “respectfully declines the invitation to dismiss,” and that the government could indicate in its forthcoming request to toss the case that the nonprofit opposes it.

“We have always acknowledged the utility of a larger meeting space at the White House,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust, said in a statement. “Building it lawfully requires the approval of Congress, which the Administration could seek at any time.”

The National Trust sued the administration in December, months after the White House’s East Wing was torn down to make way for a 90,000-square foot ballroom, funded privately and without congressional approval.

Senior Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against the administration last month, after finding that Trump didn’t have the authority to build a new structure on White House grounds.

The judge, a George W. Bush appointee, later rejected the Trump administration’s claim that the entire project was essential to national security, but preserved an exception for any below-ground work on a security bunker beneath the ballroom and to secure the construction site.

Trump and other top administration officials have doubled down on those claims that the ballroom is needed for security since Saturday’s attack. The alleged gunman, identified as Cole Allen of California, is expected to be charged later Monday.

Still, construction on the ballroom has continued throughout the litigation. The Washington federal appeals has put Leon’s ruling on hold while the government appeals, and a panel of judges is scheduled to hear arguments in the appeal on June 5.

Several Republican lawmakers have expressed interest in advancing legislation to authorize the ballroom project following Saturday’s incident.

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), said in a post on X on Sunday that he plans to introduce legislation approving consturction of a presidential ballroom and seek unanimous consent for it, a procedure allowing a bill to pass quickly on the floor if no other senator objects.