All construction related to President Donald Trump‘s $400 million ballroom can continue, an appeals court ruled late Friday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit put on hold a ruling from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that permitted only below-ground construction of the ballroom. Work on the entire project can now continue until at least early June, with oral arguments over its legality slated for June 5.
The decision is a big, albeit temporary, win for Trump, who is looking to speed the ambitious 90,000-square-foot project up.
Standing in his way has been Judge Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush who has blocked the ballroom’s construction multiple times.
Leon has ruled that the project is illegal without congressional approval. The Trump administration has swiftly appealed his decisions, defending the president’s authority while also claiming speedy construction is necessary for security of the White House team.
Notably, the ballroom will include a military bunker that is largely a rebuild of the one the now-demolished East Wing had and which Trump used.
The D.C. appeals court, composed of a rotating three-judge panel, recently sought clarification from Leon on his sweeping rulings, particularly in terms of the national security element.
Responding to that request on Thursday, Leon seemed to split the project, greenlighting below-ground construction including “top-secret excavations, bunkers, bomb-shelters, protective partitioning, military installations, and hospital and medical facilities,” while halting any unrelated above-ground construction.
Leon maintained in that order that the Trump administration has not adequately explained how the rest of the ballroom project is necessary for national security.
As the ballroom construction continues to stop and start as legal proceedings play out, another large-scale infrastructure project of Trump’s was just given initial approval.
FEDERAL AGENCY APPROVES TRUMP’S PLAN FOR TRIUMPHAL ARCH AHEAD OF AMERICA 250
The Commission of Fine Arts approved concepts for the “Independence Arch,” a 250-foot structure that Trump is looking to place inside an empty traffic circle near Arlington National Cemetery.
The arch’s projected height would dwarf similar structures like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which is 164 feet tall.