The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to permit work to continue on a $400 million ballroom project at the White House while it appeals a court order to halt construction. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the emergency petition on Friday, one week after a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that President Donald Trump lacks the unilateral authority to build the facility without congressional approval. Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, construction must stop on 21 August, the date the appeals court's order takes effect. Chief Justice John Roberts has directed the opposing party, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to file a response by noon on Tuesday.

The project, which began last autumn when the administration demolished the White House's East Wing without prior congressional authorisation, has been legally contested since October. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued, arguing that the administration bypassed a legally required review process that includes public comment and sign-off from bodies such as the National Capital Planning Commission. A federal district judge ordered a pause on aboveground construction in April, while allowing underground work — including bunkers and medical facilities — to continue. The D.C. Circuit's 2-1 ruling last week upheld that order, with the majority finding that executive self-help could not substitute for congressional decision-making on a project of this scale. The dissenting judge, Neomi Rao, argued that the preservationist group lacked legal standing to bring the case at all.

The administration's core arguments rest on presidential authority and national security. Sauer described the planned facility as an