US Supreme Court permits temporary work on White House ballroom

The US Supreme Court has allowed construction of a $400 million ballroom at the White House to proceed temporarily, pausing a lower court injunction that had halted the project. In a 5–4 decision, the court's conservative majority ruled that the administration has a high likelihood of successfully dismissing a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued the administrative order to allow justices additional time to evaluate an emergency application from the administration. While the procedural decision enables foundational work to potentially be completed before a final judicial resolution is reached, the justices explicitly emphasized that the ruling does not settle the project's ultimate legality.

Sources: Der Standard, Die Zeit, FAZ, ORF, Tagesschau