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The Roosevelt Dynasty TR did not wait for congressional approval before commencing the 1902 White House renovation. The project was already underway by the time Congress enacted the appropriation that funded the work.In doing so, TR was acting in accordance with the Constitutional design advocated by Hamilton. In Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton argued for the single executive model. “Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government,” he wrote. He wanted a single President with executive authority so the office could act with “decision, activity, secrecy, and despatch.”TR called this his “stewardship theory” of the presidency:“I declined to adopt the view that what was imperatively necessary for the Nation could not be done by the President unless he could find some specific authorization to do it.”Does this apply today? The “White House Ballroom” is now 65% complete and the Supreme Court Chief Justice has decided the project can continue while litigation proceeds in the lower courts. That means it will likely be complete before the case in the district court is finished, at which point challenges to it will likely be moot. Is this just a ballroom? Filings in the district court suggest it has been designated a national security project. The plans include drone-proof ceilings, walls, windows, and roofs; a rooftop drone base designed for large numbers of drones (intended to help protect the broader Washington area); bullet-, ballistic-, and blast-proof glass (described as several inches thick and ‘highly transparent); missile-resistant columns, roofs, and beams; hardened concrete/steel construction claimed capable of withstanding extreme threats like nuclear blasts; titanium fencing; sniper nests; biodefense elements; and secure comms. Are these pre-textual plans to stave off a legal challenge? Apparently the Chief Judge didn’t think so.