President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to allow construction of the White House’s $400 million ballroom to continue while it appeals a lower-court order requiring the work to stop.
The emergency application seeks to suspend a divided federal appeals court ruling that upheld a pause on aboveground construction because Congress has not approved the project.
Chief Justice John Roberts set Tuesday as the deadline for a response from the plaintiffs challenging the project.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the Supreme Court to act before the appeals court decision takes effect on Aug. 21.
The administration says construction has continued for about 10 months and is roughly 65% complete, arguing that halting the project at its current stage would create security problems at the White House.
It maintains that the president has authority to renovate the White House without congressional approval and argues that the project includes military facilities, bomb shelters and medical treatment facilities alongside the ballroom.
The administration also says the project is financed entirely through private corporate donations rather than taxpayer money.
A district court previously halted aboveground construction while allowing underground work and construction necessary for White House safety and security to continue.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the construction pause in a 2-1 decision last week, siding with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The majority concluded that a ballroom of approximately 90,000 square feet could not be constructed unilaterally without congressional authorization.
A dissenting judge argued that the preservation group lacked legal standing to challenge the project.
The National Trust filed its lawsuit after the administration demolished the White House East Wing last year, arguing that construction proceeded without legally required review, public comment and approvals.
The administration disputes those allegations and has also challenged the group’s standing to sue.
The ballroom is part of Trump’s broader effort to alter Washington’s cityscape, which has included renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and plans for an arch modeled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe.
The Supreme Court’s response to the emergency request will determine whether ballroom construction can continue while the administration pursues its appeal.