The white house east wing litigation drew an amicus brief from roughly 150 Democratic lawmakers led by Representatives Robert Garcia and Jared Huffman and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who argue construction cannot proceed without clear authorization and an appropriation from Congress.
The lawmakers wrote that the Constitution grants Congress exclusive control over federal property and that a routine maintenance statute does not authorize large scale demolition or new construction, according to their filing.
The administration has defended the work as routine maintenance under that statute and said the East Wing project is privately funded at about $400 million, while Congress has appropriated roughly $2.5 million for repairs, the Democrats noted in their brief.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed the original lawsuit challenging demolition of the East Wing, and a federal judge had ordered that construction halt until Congress green lit the project before an appellate panel temporarily allowed aboveground work to resume pending arguments next week.
Security Claims Reactions And Legal Stakes
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche filed a supplemental brief arguing recent shootings underscore the need for a heavily secured ballroom that he said is a cohesive part of the East Wing project and is vital for national security.
Blanche described planned security features in the filing, including a heavy steel, drone proof roof, missile resistant and drone proof columns, ballistic and blast proof glass, a major drone port, and government sniper facilities, according to his court document.
The filing also stated the ballroom would contain bomb shelters, a state of the art hospital and medical facilities, and Top Secret military installations, and it cautioned that the lawsuit had revealed sensitive features to potential enemies, as Blanche wrote.
The administration and supporters said the ballroom will be privately funded, and President Trump posted the filing on Truth Social while thanking the U.S. Secret Service, according to the reports.
Two nonprofits, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Campaign Legal Center, filed an amici brief warning that accepting ballroom donations from entities with business before the government creates conflicts of interest and arguing Congress should appropriate funds.
A consortium of architects and preservationists filed a separate brief contending the president lacks inherent authority to destroy historic federal property within a national park and use private funds to build a large, aboveground ballroom, the brief said.
Representative Garcia called the project a “billion dollar ballroom” and said, “Everyone should be disgusted by his illegal and unconstitutional vanity project. We are fighting this in court,” according to his statement.
