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| Demolition in action to make space for ballroom (AP) |
Imagine renting a house and deciding you want to tear out a fireplace to build a rumpus room. Imagine that you move ahead on this project without consulting the person who owns the house, your landlord. Do you have a problem on your hands? The answer is yes because, in the U.S., it generally is unlawful for a tenant to make renovations to a property he does not own. Here's how the superlawyers.com website puts it:
The landlord is responsible for structural improvements, habitability needs, and major home systems. As the property owner, they are responsible for keeping the property compliant with building codes and health regulations. They will also address tenant requests for repairs and maintenance to the building. . . .
Typically, daily maintenance and minor repairs are the tenant’s responsibility. The tenant is also responsible for making repairs to the damage they caused. If the tenant wants to make major changes or improvements, they will likely need the approval of the landlord. This restriction is typically included in the lease. There may also be a term that requires the tenant to restore the property to its pre-lease condition if they do make significant changes.
You probably are thinking to yourself: "That's a simple concept: If you don't own it, don't mess with it." It is simple, but it apparently is too complex for Donald J. Trump, president of the United States, to comprehend. That's why Richard J. Leon, U.S. judge for the District of Columbia, issued an injunction yesterday bringing construction on Trump's White House ballroom to a halt.
In essence, Leon ruled, the American people own the White House by virtue of paying taxes, and that means Trump is the equivalent of a tenant, one who must go through the people's representatives, in Congress, to proceed with even minor alterations. To be sure, the president's vision for a ballroom certainly is grand (and tacky) in scope, and that makes it especially important, Leon found, that Trump makes sure he obtains authority to alter the property. In a jointly published story, CNN and AOL have details about a decision that left America with one pissed off president:
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump from moving ahead with any further work on a massive new $400 million ballroom on the former site of the White House East Wing.
“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” Judge Richard Leon wrote.
Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said he was delaying implementation of his ruling for two weeks to allow the government to appeal. But he warned that “any above-ground construction over the next fourteen days that is not in compliance” with his ruling “is at risk of being taken down depending on the outcome of this case.” The Trump administration immediately told the judge it will appeal.
The issues are not complicated, but Leon seemed to take care not to bruise the president's ego, which might be more massive than his planned (and tacky) ballroom. CNN/AOL report:
The crux of the issue, Leon concluded in his decision, was that Trump had not received approval from lawmakers to undertake the bold construction project, which he said was required by federal law.
“(U)nless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” he wrote, adding that the good news” is that Trump and Congress can work to authorize the project.
According to CNN/AOL, Trump is taking his pet project personally. Perhaps that is why yesterday's ruling had to sting:
Trump, a former real estate developer, has been personally involved in ballroom details, from floor plans to marble selection.
“I’m so busy that I don’t have time to do this, but – I’m fighting wars and other things, but this is very important, because this is going to be with us for a long time,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday evening, adding, “I think it’ll be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world.”
The ballroom project has an estimated size of approximately 89,000 square feet, according to lead architect Shalom Baranes. By contrast, the primary White House structure, the Executive Mansion, is just 55,000 square feet.
Trump has maintained that the project isn’t subject to any oversight and that he should be able to continue it without any serious scrutiny. He has promised it will be complete in the summer of 2028, months before he leaves office.
Was Trump a tad peeved at having his grand plans short-circuited -- for now? As you might expect from our toddler-in-chief, the answer is yes. From a joint report at The New Republic and Yahoo! News:
Trump, incensed, took to Truth Social to rail against Leon’s decision.
“The National Trust for Historic Preservation sues me for a Ballroom that is under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World. I then get sued by them over the renovation of the dilapidated and structurally unsound former Kennedy Center, now, The Trump Kennedy Center (A show of Bipartisan Unity, a Republican and Democrat President!), where all I am doing is fixing, cleaning, running, and ‘sprucing up’ a terribly maintained, for many years,” Trump wrote.
“Yet, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Radical Left Group of Lunatics whose funding was stopped by Congress in 2005, is not suing the Federal Reserve for a Building which has been decimated and destroyed, inside and out, by an incompetent and possibly corrupt Fed Chairman.”
Trump’s ballroom was initially projected to cost $200 million, and the price has since ballooned to double that.
Trump might think he is above needing oversight, but Judge Leon has other ideas -- and unlike Trump -- he seems to take the role of Congress seriously. From CNN/AOL:
Throughout the 35-page ruling, Leon repeatedly emphasized that Congress has a role to play in the project.
“The President may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds,” Leon wrote. “Indeed, Congress may even choose to appropriate funds for the ballroom, or at least decide that some other funding scheme is acceptable.”
“Either way, Congress will thereby retain its authority over the nation’s property and its oversight over the Government’s spending,” the judge wrote. “And the American people will benefit from the branches of Government exercising their constitutionally prescribed roles. Not a bad outcome, that!”
Leon seemed to go out of his way to make the ruling palatable to Trump -- like trying to make a 5-year-old believe spinach really does taste good. The judge also took pains to point out the White House relied on flawed legal arguments -- suggesting perhaps that the president wasn't at fault; he just needed better lawyers. Here's more from CNN/AOL:
In ruling against Trump, Leon also said the president had improperly relied on a federal law that gives presidents the authority to use congressional funds for the “care, maintenance, repair” and “alteration” of the White House, among other things, to justify his decision to unilaterally move ahead with construction.
That law, the judge said, does not allow for the “wholesale demolition of entire buildings and construction of new ones.”
“Under defendants’ reading, virtually any change to the White House could be framed as an ‘alteration’ or ‘improvement,’” he wrote. “Indeed, some might even view tearing down the White House and building a modem skyscraper in its place as an ‘improvement.’”
Let's hope the judge doesn't give Trump any ideas. Speaking of which, this court case clearly goes beyond the White House, so a number of interested parties shared thoughts about what transpired yesterday:
Carol Quillen, the president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, meanwhile, called Tuesday’s ruling “a win for the American people.”
“We are pleased with Judge Leon’s ruling today to order a halt to any further ballroom construction until the administration complies with the law and obtains express authorization to go forward,” she said.
In a phone interview with CNN, Rep. Jared Huffman of California, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources, which would have some jurisdiction over the project should it ultimately come to Congress, said he planned to be “very actively engaged” going forward.
“I think there’s no other way to read this; they have to come to Congress. I know they hate doing this, but we are not potted plants in the legislative,” Huffman said.
What's coming next? Here's a summary from CNN/AOL:
The White House has repeatedly said that any above-grade construction could begin as soon as April – and the ruling also comes days before a key commission stacked with Trump loyalists is expected to green-light the plans.
The National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation’s capital, is set to hold a final vote on the project Thursday morning that is widely expected to pass despite thousands of public comments overwhelmingly opposing the plans.
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