The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday to allow President Donald Trump's administration to continue construction of a controversial $400 million White House ballroom. This decision allows the project, the largest addition to the executive mansion in decades, to move forward indefinitely and replaces a temporary order issued earlier this month.
The ruling blocks a lower court order that had halted above-ground work while a lawsuit by a historic preservation group sought to block the development. While two lower courts previously found that the project was probably violating the law because it lacked congressional approval, the Supreme Court did not rule on the project's legality. Instead, the justices stated that the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely lacked the standing to challenge the administration.
Chief Justice John Roberts, siding with the court's three liberal justices, dissented from the majority decision. Roberts wrote that the ongoing construction is likely unlawful because it has not been approved by Congress. In a social media post, President Trump welcomed the ruling and described the legal challenge as baseless.