The ongoing lawfare nonsense to oppose President Trump on absolutely everything continued Friday with the news that two left-wing judges have ordered a halt on construction of the White House ballroom.
Barry Obama appointee, Judge Patricia A. Millett, and Joe Biden appointee, Judge Bradley N. Garcia, claim that Trump must get the approval of Congress for his ballroom. Those two were all that’s needed in a three-judge federal appeals panel. Trump-appointed Judge Neomi Rao dissented.
“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence,” wrote the judges.
“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” wrote the majority.
“The district court seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach,” Rao wrote in her dissent. “Because the injunction is beyond the proper province of the federal courts, construction should be allowed to continue.”
Before construction stops entirely, the order gives Trump two weeks to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump is building the 90,000 square foot ballroom with $400 million in private donations, and he is not the first president to make White House changes without congressional approval using private funds. Harry Truman added a balcony, Franklin Roosevelt built an indoor pool, Gerald Ford built an outdoor pool and cabana, and during his first term, Trump added a tennis pavilion.
Granted, this is the largest White House construction project to go forward without congressional authorization, and taxpayers will cover the aspects of the ballroom used for the Secret Service and military. Still, there is no question the White House needs a ballroom for commonsense reasons, including security concerns. What’s more, look how far along the construction is.
What’s more, the whole debate is a stupid one. The Constitution makes clear that the president is in charge of the executive branch, which includes the White House. Congress only has control over the purse strings, which Trump has avoided through 1) private donations and 2) using the existing budgets of the Secret Service and White House Military Office to fund the rest.
We actually have sociopathic Democrats talking about tearing down the completed ballroom once Trump leaves office.
Why would we not be grateful that President Trump used his clout and time to gift America with a beautiful ballroom that will also keep all of our future presidents safer? It’s madness.
Read the full article here