Supreme Court allows construction of "probably illegal" White House ballroom

The Supreme Court of the United States today allowed construction of a massive ballroom on the White House grounds to continue, though Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that it's "probably illegal." The majority instead dodged the issue, ruling 5-4 that the National Trust for Historic Preservation had no standing to challenge the project in the first place.

The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration's request to allow construction on a new White House ballroom to continue. By a vote of 5-4, the court paused a ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., that would have halted above-ground construction of the ballroom project. … The plaintiff in the case, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is a private nonprofit that describes itself as having "led the movement to save America's historic places" "[f]or more than 75 years." It went to federal court in Washington, D.C., in December, where it asked Leon to pause construction until the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts could review the plans for the construction; the NCPC could approve those plans; and Congress could authorize the construction.

The New York Times reports on the wheedling.

The majority emphasized that its order was not addressing the legality of the project and instead the question of who could sue to try to block it. But in practical terms, the order was a significant setback to the most serious legal challenge to the project, meaning the president seems likely to be able to complete construction.

Trump claimed it would be funded by private donations, but has so far spent $350 million in taxpayer money on the project, though Secret Service funding, under the guise of "security enhancements," with $220 million sought to "harden" it and a further $180 million on a "visitor screening facility."

Absolutism arrived as "power that took no heed of the law's constraints" and here we are just in time for it to really matter.