Can a president unilaterally alter the historic White House using private funds and national security claims despite a century-old law?

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No. Based on the rulings so far, a president cannot unilaterally remake major parts of the White House on the basis of private funding or national security claims if Congress has not expressly authorized the construction. The central legal barrier is a 1912 law, now codified at 40 U.S.C. § 8106, which bars new buildings on federal public grounds in Washington without express congressional approval. The D.C. Circuit said that rule likely applies to Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom project and that Congress, under the Constitution’s Property Clause, controls the White House grounds as federal property. The appeals court rejected the administration’s argument that general statutes allowing White House “improvements” or National Park Service construction authority were enough. The majority said those laws do not clearly authorize demolishing the East Wing and replacing it with a large new above-ground structure. It also noted the long history of Congress specifically funding and regulating major White House alterations. Private donations do not appear to solve that problem. Once work is done on federal property, the key issue is legal authority, not just who pays. Reporting and legal analysis in the case indicate that private money cannot bypass congressional control over federal land and appropriations rules. National security arguments have carried only limited weight so far. The lower courts allowed underground bunker, medical, and protective work to continue, but blocked …

Trump Admits $400 Million White House Ballroom Hides Bomb Shelters as Supreme Court Weighs Project

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Trump Admits $400 Million White House Ballroom Hides Bomb Shelters as Supreme Court Weighs Project

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