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Theodore Roosevelt built the West Wing. FDR renovated the East Wing and the basement. Harry Truman added the Truman Balcony. None of these required congressional authorization for each nail and board. Presidents have always maintained, modified, and expanded the White House — because it is both their residence and their principal place of work, and the executive branch has inherent authority over its own facilities. The D.C. Circuit’s ruling would require congressional sign-off on decisions that previous administrations routinely made without it.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to stop the project, because it is filled with left-wing nutjobs who hate this president. They are claiming, falsely, that only Congress can authorize such construction. So far, they’ve been able to find friendly left-wing judges who have equal parts of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
The Supreme Court will now decide whether to temporarily allow construction to proceed or block it while the underlying lawsuit plays out. A 6-3 conservative majority that just ruled on executive authority in the SAVE America Act context, on the White House’s Article II powers repeatedly this year, and that has consistently pushed back on lower courts overreaching into executive domain is the right court for this fight.
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