Trump asks Supreme Court to let White House ballroom construction continue during appeal

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the White House continue building a $400 million ballroom while it appeals a lower-court order to stop work. In a petition filed Friday, the administration’s solicitor general sought a stay of last week’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The majority said Trump lacked unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom in the White House’s East Wing, where it had previously stood before being demolished last fall. The administration argues the injunction is unlawful and that preserving access and security is harder during an open construction site.