photo #9332723

This is where the White House ballroom fight starts looking ridiculous.A divided federal appeals court has upheld an injunction against President Trump's planned White House ballroom, ruling 2-1 against the administration in a fight over whether Congress must authorize the project.There is just one rather enormous problem with the entire preservation drama.The East Wing they were supposedly trying to protect is already gone.It was demolished months ago. The site has already been torn apart. The old structure is not coming back because a federal court tells construction crews to stop building the replacement.That does not erase the legal question. The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues that Trump cannot undertake a project this large on federal property without congressional authorization. The administration argues that the president has authority over White House improvements and that the project also involves serious security considerations.Fine. Let the courts decide that question.But look at the practical result.The government tore down the East Wing, construction moved forward, and now the judiciary is stepping in to stop the new structure from going up. That does not preserve the old building. It potentially leaves the White House with a demolished wing and a stalled construction project.From where I sit, this looks less like historic preservation and more like yet another institutional battle over Donald Trump himself.And that is where the appearance of politicization becomes impossible to ignore.Courts should decide cases based on statutes, constitutional authority and actual remedies. They should not become another battlefield where every major Trump decision is frozen, delayed and litigated into oblivion simply because the president involved is Donald Trump.The appeals court has paused its own ruling for 14 days, giving the administration time to seek Supreme Court intervention.At this point, that may be exactly where this belongs.Sources: Reuters, CourtListener docket, D.C. Circuit official prior orders, ABC News