Source: Fortune
Summary
The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to allow construction on a $400 million ballroom project at the White House to continue while it appeals a lower court’s order to halt the work. The administration claims that the project is necessary for national security, citing a threatened missile attack on Air Force One. The lower court ruled that Congress must approve the project, but the administration argues that the president has unilateral authority to renovate the White House.
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The administration’s request to the Supreme Court comes after a lower court ruled that the project must be halted due to lack of congressional approval. The administration claims that the project is 65% complete and that stopping construction would “promise chaos in service of nothing.” The White House has also revealed that a threatened missile attack on Air Force One prompted the Secret Service to secretly fly Trump out of Turkey on an alternate military aircraft.
The administration’s petition to the Supreme Court includes a list of recent assassination attempts against Trump, including the threatened missile attack. The filing also asserts that the project is “on time and under budget” with approximately $400 million in private donations. However, Democrats in Congress have said that funds from Trump’s tax cuts bill appear to be paying for the project.
The original observation: The administration is using national security as a justification for a project that is widely seen as a luxury item.
Author: Evan Null
