The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to let construction continue on a roughly $400 million, 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom after the D.C. Circuit ruled that above-ground work could not proceed without congressional approval. The administration argues the project is integrated with security infrastructure and is necessary for national security; the appeals court held that even substantial security interests do not give a president unilateral power to fundamentally reshape the White House. The immediate lawsuit concerns this project, but the broader question is what approval process should govern major permanent changes to an institution occupied temporarily by each president. Presidents need enough discretion to protect and operate the White House, but the building also belongs to the country across administrations. A rule should distinguish ordinary maintenance and urgent security work from permanent structural changes that future presidents inherit.
Who should authorize a major permanent transformation of the White House?