SCOTUS grants temporary stay, allowing Trump White House ballroom work to continue

The Supreme Court issued a provisional stay Friday that allows the construction of a new White House ballroom to proceed while it weighs the next steps in a challenge filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argues the president lacked authority and objects to the size and aesthetics of the project. The stay blocks lower court rulings that would have halted the above-ground ballroom portion, though underground components tied to security can continue. The DC Circuit had upheld the halt, and the project is privately funded at about $400 million and roughly 65% complete, with a 250-person crew working around the clock.