The Ballroom Standing

The Supreme Court is handing, for now, President Trump a win in his effort to erect a White House ballroom. Yet the fate of the project could hinge on whether the quick tempo of Mr. Trump’s construction timetable will outpace the more leisurely waltz of the federal judicial dockets. Friday’s order by Chief Justice Roberts lifts the pause on the ballroom work that would, per a lower court ruling, have taken effect yesterday. The order offers no reasoning.It wouldn’t surprise us, though, if one of the issues turns out to be standing — meaning whether the National Trust for Historic Preservation has a legal basis to take its concerns, marked by one of its board members, to court. A lower court’s command to stop the construction is reversed, the chief wrote, “pending further order of The Chief Justice or of the Court.” That could suggest the high bench is looking for more time to weigh the dispute.The absence of any dissenting views from the chief justice’s colleagues on the bench would seem to underscore the preliminary nature of Friday’s move by the Nine. For now, though, the chief justice’s order vindicates the legal appraisal of a rider of the District of Columbia appeals circuit, Judge Neomi Rao. The Trump nominee was the lone dissenter on the three-judge panel that ruled against the president in the dispute over the ballroom project.The majority on the circuit court panel, consisting of a Biden nominee, Judge Bradley Garcia, and an Obama nominee, Judge Patricia Millett, found Mr. Trump lacked “constitutionally assigned authority” to build his ballroom. Solicitor General John Sauer, though, points to a federal law that allows presidents to spend “appropriated funds” on “the care, maintenance, repair, alteration, refurnishing,” or “improvement” of the White House.Judge Rao to a degree sidestepped this debate by arguing that the federal courts had no business involving themselves. “A blatant abuse of discretion,” is how she described the district court’s order halting the construction. The lower court judge had “elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site” at the White House, Judge Rao averred.The “passerby” in the case, the board member of the National Trust, is Alison Hoagland, who had warned of “permanent and irreparable harm” if Mr. Trump’s ballroom is built. The National Trust filed the suit against the project. Relying on Ms. Hoagland’s concerns to halt the construction, Judge Rao wrote, amounted to a case of “judicial overreach.” The order, she added, “is beyond the proper province of the federal courts.”Judge Rao’s argument that the National Trust lacks standing to bring its case against the ballroom is a reminder of a constitutional limit on federal courts, the Cases and Controversies clause. The provision, Justice Neil Gorsuch recently asserted, separates matters that are “fit for judicial resolution from questions of public policy,” which are “reserved to the elected branches” or “left to the debating hall.” The ballroom case has the earmarks of such a dispute.In the event, the point of contention at the heart of the case could soon be mooted as the bulldozers, earth movers, and builders on the White House grounds proceed with their work on the ballroom. Mr. Sauer reckons “it is practically impossible to stop any major feature” of the construction due to its complex nature. The logic of concrete and steel beams could prove the most effective argument against the transitory musings of the federal judiciary.

The Ballroom Standing

The Ballroom Standing

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