April 28 (UPI) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Monday that the Justice Department has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom, citing the weekend’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Completion of the $400 million ballroom, which has been under construction since early fall, has been threatened by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit, leaving a construction site where the East Wing of the White House once stood.
A federal and Republican push for its completion has intensified after an armed man was arrested at the annual charity dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, with lawmakers and White House officials claiming the 90,000-square-foot ballroom is a security necessity.
During a press conference Monday announcing charges stemming from the dinner against Cole Tomas Allen, including a charge of attempting to assassinate the president, Blanche said the department formally asked the court that morning to dismiss the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit.
“We filed a motion today asking the court to do what the plaintiffs refused to do,” Blanche said.
“We absolutely believe that there is no better example of why this ballroom is necessary — aside from all the very positive things the ballroom will bring to this country and to Washington, D.C. — than what happened on Saturday night.”
The Justice Department had warned the National Trust in a letter Sunday that federal prosecutors would file the motion at 9 a.m. EDT the following day unless it voluntarily dismissed its case.
The National Trust told UPI that it had no intention of dropping its lawsuit.
“We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the administration to follow the law,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in an emailed statement.
Construction of the ballroom has continued despite the litigation, with oral arguments in the appeals process scheduled for June 5.
A recently issued administrative stay has blocked an injunction that would have allowed only underground construction of the ballroom to continue for security reasons.
The National Trust’s attorneys at Foley Hoag LLP on Monday responded to the Justice Department with a letter, obtained by UPI, stating that below-ground bunker construction should be permitted by any injunction.
“What Saturday’s awful event does not change is that the Constitution and multiple federal statutes require Congress to authorize construction of a ballroom on White House grounds, and that Congress has not done so,” lawyer Gregory Craig said.
The Justice Department, in its letter to the National Trust, argued that the lawsuit threatened the life of the president, a claim Craig disputed.
“Nothing prevents you from asking Congress at any time for the necessary authorization required by the Constitution and federal law,” he said.
The Trump administration has framed the lawsuit as a rejection of a project to be paid for by donors while arguing Congress has already approved the project via legislation that allows for maintenance and upkeep of federal facilities.
Separately, Sen. Lindsey Graham announced legislation to authorize the $400 million project.
The close Trump ally dismissed the notion that the ballroom was a Trump vanity project during a press conference at the Capitol on Monday, stating he would introduce legislation to authorize $400 million to build the ballroom.
The bill would be funded by customs and national park user fees, he said.
“The sooner we get the ballroom built, the more hardened it is, the better for the country,” the South Carolina Republican said.
“So, I hope and pray that most people in the Senate after Saturday night will support this bill.”
He said he would like the vote to be held as soon as possible.
Sen. Rand Paul, chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said he would also introduce a bill on Tuesday to authorize the ballroom construction.