Preservationist group urges Supreme Court to keep White House ballroom paused

The preservationist group trying to stop President Trump's White House ballroom urged the Supreme Court to deny the administration's emergency request to allow construction, calling it "astonishing" on Tuesday.

The Trump administration wants the justices to step in to stop a lower court order that would grind the above-ground work to a halt starting at the end of the day on Friday.

"Petitioners, however, insist they will keep building — no matter what anyone says," lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation wrote in its response to the president's request.

The battle comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that Trump needed additional congressional authorization for the 90,000-square-foot project, rejecting the president's arguments that it can move forward because private funds are going toward it.

The Justice Department, in defending the project, has increasingly leaned on a national security argument, saying the ballroom is necessary to protect the president's safety after a number of shootings and threats in his vicinity. The government has detailed plans for a drone port, military-grade venting and missile-resistant steel columns as part of the new structure.

"If Petitioners believe there is a pressing need for a ballroom, nothing prevents them from asking Congress for one — today, tomorrow, or any time in the future," the preservationist group pushed back in its new filing.

"But Petitioners' efforts to foil judicial review and arrogate Congress's exclusive powers should not be rewarded with a stay that allows Petitioners to complete a ballroom they lacked any authority to commence in the first place," it continued.

The case is being heard on the Supreme Court's emergency docket, where the justices intervene on an interim basis in urgent cases. The Trump administration has a chance to reply to the latest filing, and a ruling could come as soon as this week.

If the court wants to ultimately take up the case on its normal docket, the National Trust for Historic Preservation indicated it doesn't oppose expediting the schedule so the justices could hear arguments this fall and issue a final ruling by next summer.

The Trump administration has long contended the group's arguments shouldn't even be considered because it doesn't have legal standing, meaning its right to sue over the project in the first place.

The president has repeatedly lambasted the group, saying the lawsuit has forced him to publicly detail planned security features.

"These are the TREASONISTS that brought the suit against the Military Complex," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday. "They revealed Top Military Secrets!"