ABC's Steven Portnoy on White House Ballroom project: 'The latest is yet to come'
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12 segmentsYou're listening to Total Information AM here on KMOX. I'm Megan Lynch. The Trump administration is arguing construction of a ballroom is too far along to be stopped now. It's being called a military complex, and lawyers argue halting it would present an unacceptable risk. And appeals court ruling would halt that construction Friday. With me now on the Quiver River Electric Guestline, Stephen Portnoy, ABC News National Correspondent in Washington. So, Stephen, what's the latest? Well, the latest is yet to come. We're waiting from... We're waiting for an answer from the Supreme Court as to whether it's going to intervene and prevent lower court injunction from taking effect tomorrow. That's the deadline. And the administration this week has gone before the Supreme Court to say that the elements related to security are so important. that, quote, every day the president does not have access to the vital security features of the military complex presents unacceptable risk, no matter how long the project takes to complete. The administration says the project is required by national security, and they argue that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which brought the lawsuit against it, doesn't have standing. to sue and they say that the idea that congress hasn't authorized the construction uh... shouldn't be uh... given credence by the supreme court that that would give the lawmakers quote dangerous leverage over the president whenever the white house has unforeseen structural problems or vulnerabilities we'll see how these arguments fall on the ears of the justices of the Supreme Court. We are waiting on a decision from them. Stephen, help us understand this. Is it a ballroom or a military complex? It seems like it's evolved over time. Well, you're right. I mean, look, initially it was announced by the president as a ballroom. That was more than a year ago. They tore down the Old East Wing, which nobody expected because the president initially said it would be distant from the... the actual executive mansion, no one foresaw that they would be dismantling the entirety of the East Wing, which included an underground bunker that dated to World War II installed by FDR. So replacing all of that has now been viewed as what they call the East Wing modernization project. And the administration has explained in court filings that a lot of it would involve office space for the Secret Service, hospital, other military. facilities and now the president's been talking a lot about a drone port on the roof drone proof you know, blast-proof columns and all of this. But, you know, essentially it also would be a 90,000 square foot facility for the president to host foreign leaders. Yesterday, he took reporters on a tour of the helipad and the new white granite that he's installed on the White House lawn that would provide a path for dignitaries to come even mention the idea of having cocktails. This is really...
an essential element of what the president focuses on over the course of his days. And it's very important to him that these projects move forward. And so they've tried to create, I think, you know, point to at least a national security rationale hoping that it would be compelling upon the justices. But one of the counterarguments is if this is so important, why are you trying to convince judges? Why haven't you tried to convince lawmakers? What did the federal appeals court actually say in its ruling about lawmakers and about what courts can do? Well, the appeals court said it agreed with the district court. And now you have two lower courts saying that Congress controls the property of the United States. If the president is not the owner of the White House, that he's a tenant, that the president, all he would have to do is go to Capitol Hill and talk to his Republican allies and say, we'd like you to pass this bill because it's so important. Instead, the president now seems to be going to the justices and saying, we'd like to keep doing this because it's so important. One last quick question. I understand from some reports that there is a team of 250 workers who are working basically 20 hours a day, seven days a week, to push this project ahead. That's what the administration says in its court filings, that it's now 65% complete, that the steel and concrete superstructure is so far along that it's beyond the point of no return, that stopping the project now would be in the words of one senior White House official, a disaster? All of this... is an effort to try to convince the justices to step in now, issue a stay, and allow the construction to continue. All right, we'll wait for the latest from you on when the Supreme Court issues any kind of decision. You bet. That is Stephen Portnoy, ABC News National Correspondent, joining us this morning on KMOX.