White House Ballroom Before SCOTUS; High Court ‘Should Move Quickly To End This Circus’
Trump has reframed argument as a national security issue. The fight over the ballroom is currently before the Supreme Court.
Mind you, there was barely a peep when Obama build a basketball court at the White House. But build a permanent ballroom so America can host state dinners and major official events with security—instead of herding guests into temporary tents on the South Lawn—and the deranged Left erupts in hysterics. A basketball court was apparently sacred; a proper venue for the business of the presidency is an outrage.
The left is really sick.
Presidents have been rebuilding and reshaping the White House for generations. Theodore Roosevelt built the West Wing. FDR added the East Wing and an indoor pool. Truman built his balcony and gutted the mansion’s entire interior. Nixon converted the pool into a press room. Ford added an outdoor pool. Obama adapted the tennis court for basketball. But Trump proposes a privately funded ballroom—an urgently needed permanent venue for state dinners now held under temporary tents—and suddenly the deranged Left screams desecration. Their outrage isn’t about preservation. It’s about Trump.
Washington Post: The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to clear the way for it to complete the White House ballroom, escalating the months-long legal fight over the president’s controversial project (Washington Post).
Hugh Hewitt:
Chief Justice Roberts has before him the request from President Trump to stay the order halting construction at the White House, including its below ground national security facilities, the ballroom above ground and whatever is intend for the roof (drone defenses perhaps?)
I hope the stay of the D.C. Circuit issues today. There are some standing issues but the heart of the debate is presidential authority over the Executive Mansion and related-grounds. This is not a close case and the stay should be ordered. A terse opinion may follow on the urgent need to allow this president and all future presidents authority over their home/office/highly secure national security facilities within that area and associated areas such as Camp David. To ignore the rapidly evolving threats to any facility used frequently any president against the backdrop of repeated attempts on the lives of this and other presidents not to mention rapidly evolving surveillance technology that has to be countered would be the height of irresponsibility.
Imagine the consequences of a state sponsor of successfully terror targeting the White House if necessary defenses that would have deflected the attack are not in place. TDS has spread far and wide, but while the hard left in this country and the terror-based regimes which align with the objectives of the radicals would love to see a Commander-in-Chief denied authority over his command structures, the Supreme Court should move quickly to end this circus.
AUTHOR
Pamela Geller
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Blanche: Congress has already approved White House ballroom project
EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserve.
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