The administration of US President Donald Trump has renewed its push to lift a court ruling barring progress on a new White House ballroom, once again citing gun violence as a reason for pursuing the construction.
In a court filing submitted on Sunday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued it was “urgent” that the ballroom be completed. “This is a terrible, tremendously harmful case to the United States of America, and all it stands for!” Blanche wrote, denouncing the lawsuit that has paused construction.
As justification, Blanche pointed to the events of last Saturday, when a 21-year-old suspect named Nasire Best approached a White House security checkpoint, pulled out a gun, and started shooting. One bystander was injured. The suspect was killed after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents.
Blanche argued that the incident represented the second time in the span of a month that Trump’s life had been threatened. On April 25, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen had attempted to breach security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. After an exchange of gunfire with security, Allen was taken into custody.
“This second attack on the President this month underscores the critical need for top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the Ballroom,” Blanche wrote. He added that the ballroom “is being constructed to ensure that the President can perform his constitutional duties in a safe and heavily secured facility”.
However, Trump faces an uphill battle. On March 31, federal judge Richard Leon issued a temporary injunction against further construction, stating that “bald assertions of ‘national security’” would not be accepted. He called on the Trump administration to petition Congress for approval.
Trump has sought additional funding from Congress for the ballroom, but even members of his party have balked at the $1 billion price tag. Senate Republicans agreed to drop the provision from an immigration enforcement bill.
The project, initially estimated at $200 million, has ballooned to $1 billion. Trump claims it is funded privately, but the request for taxpayer funds contradicts this. The ballroom, slated to be 90,000 square feet, will include bomb shelters, a military hospital, and a drone port.
Plaintiffs argue the administration acted without oversight. The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a complaint alleging that the law mandates approval from Congress and the National Capital Planning Commission, and that no environmental assessment was conducted.
Source: www.aljazeera.com