Three days before a court order halting most above-ground construction of a new White House ballroom is set to take effect, the Trump administration is making a final urgent appeal to the Supreme Court to issue a stay and, ultimately, hear and dismiss the case.
“Every day the President does not have access to the vital security features of the military complex presents unacceptable risk, no matter how long the Project takes to complete,” Solicitor General John Sauer wrote in a filing to the court on Wednesday.
The government, which has previously asserted the concrete-and-steel superstructure is now “beyond the point of no return,” doubled down on claims that its completion is “required by national security” and that judges lack authority to second-guess its decisions.
“Built with integrated engineering, the Project will provide in a very large way, a ‘safe room’ for the Presidency and the continuity of government,” Sauer argued.
President Donald Trump stands with workers near the White House helipad construction on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, August 19, 2026.
Al Drago/EPA/Shutterstock
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which brought the case, said the administration’s rhetoric is hyperbolic bluster, telling the justices this week that Trump is unilaterally overriding Congress and now racing to complete the project “to try to outrun judicial review.”
Nothing in the injunction, the Trust wrote, “prevents them from continuing work on the bunker, securing the East Wing site, or ensuring the safety of the President, his family, and staff. All the injunction stops is construction of a ballroom without prior congressional approval.”
Federal law gives Congress control over federal property, including the White House grounds, but has also long allowed presidents to undertake the “care, maintenance, repair, alteration, refurbishment, and improvement … of the Executive Residence.”
President Trump unilaterally initiated demolition of the White House East Wing in late 2025 to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
The U.S. Supreme Court during sunset in Washington, August 7, 2026.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
In its latest filing with the high court, the administration claims that seeking congressional approval for construction would be an infringement on presidential power.
It would give “Congress dangerous leverage over the President whenever the White House has unforeseen structural problems or vulnerabilities,” Sauer said.
More fundamentally, he argues that the Trust lacks standing to challenge construction operations in the first place, arguing that a visual dislike of the project is simply not enough.
“On the Trust’s logic, anyone with plans to see the most famous building in the world — from a tourist in Alaska planning to visit D.C., to a consultant with regular flights into DCA [Washington Reagan National Airport], or even a virtual sightseer watching a video tour online — has a spectator’s veto to challenge the Project,” Sauer wrote.
“That theory would open the floodgates to endless challenges to any putative visual message communicated by any governmental building anywhere,” he said.
Workers continue construction on the new White House ballroom, as seen from the Washington Monument, Aug. 19, 2026, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Last week, the government told the court that the project is 65% complete, with a 250-person crew working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week to finish it.
The dispute over an injunction halting most above-ground construction — which was upheld by a 2-1 decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals — comes at a critical moment for Trump and the court, which again faces a barrage of cases involving presidential power.
The justices are expected to issue a decision on a stay by the end of the week, when the injunction is set to take effect, but could buy more time to consider the issue with an administrative order.