Washington– Conservationists are moving forward with their lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s planned $400 million White House ballroom, rejecting a request from the Justice Department to withdraw the complaint after the shooting into the White House ballroom. White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.
Trump and other conservatives made a renewed effort to establish the hall in the wake of the media dinner shooting on Saturday, arguing that it exposed the difficulties in Ensuring presidential security At large events outside the White House grounds, he urged the National Trust for Historic Preservation to drop his lawsuit.
Senior judicial officials said the government would ask the court to dismiss the case “in light of the extraordinary events that occurred last night” if the fund did not voluntarily drop it.
Attorney Gregory Craig denied that request, writing to the Justice Department that the legal issues at the heart of the lawsuit had not changed.
“What Saturday’s horrific event does not change is that the Constitution and multiple federal statutes require Congress to authorize the construction of a ballroom on the White House grounds, and Congress has not done so,” Craig wrote.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The preservation group filed a lawsuit in December, a week after the White House Demolishing the eastern wing To make room for the ballroom, which Trump said could seat 999 people. Trump says the project is being funded by private donations, though public money is being used to fund an underground bunker and security upgrades.
In his lawsuitThe foundation argued that Trump exceeded his authority by moving forward with the project without first obtaining approval from key federal agencies and Congress.
A Federal Court of Appeal Trump was allowed to continue the project, only to rule a day later The lower court judge maintained the ban Above ground construction at the site and a June 5 hearing to review the case has been set.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP