Judge lets Trump's White House ballroom construction move forward

Trump on Tuesday referred to the project as costing $400 million — up from his $300 million estimate in October and the White House's initial $200 million estimate.

A federal judge is allowing construction of the White House ballroom to move forward, rejecting a request by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to temporarily halt President Donald Trump's sprawling project.

The preservation group sued the Trump administration last week in a bid to halt an expansive revamp of the White House property that's drawn sharp criticism from Democrats. The lawsuit alleges the administration broke ground before plans were submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission and without approval from Congress, as required for construction on federal park land in Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on Tuesday that within the next “two weeks” it expects to meet with the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts to review plans that Justice Department attorney Adam Gustafson told the court were not yet finalized.

Tad Heuer, the national trust's attorney, quipped that with this administration, “It’s always going to happen in the next two weeks.”

“The court will hold them to that,” the judge responded. “They have until the end of this month.”