Blanche: Congress has already approved White House ballroom project
The Hill · C · trust 45/100
Comments: by Ashleigh Fields - 08/17/26 11:53 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ashleigh Fields - 08/17/26 11:53 AM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday said the Department of Justice believes Congress has already granted President Trump the authority to construct the White House ballroom under existing presidential authority.
“We don’t believe we have to go to Congress. We believe Congress has already given us the authority to do what we’re doing,” Blanche said during a Sunday appearance on Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday.”
“Many presidents have done a tremendous amount of work to the White House, as they should, and Congress has authorized them to do so,” he added in discussion with anchor Shannon Bream, a lawyer criticized by Trump after the interview aired.
Bream asked Blanche why he wouldn’t go to Congress for approval on the reported $900-billion project if he believes they’ve already been granted the authority to complete construction on the White House campus.
An appeals court has ordered the administration to stop all work on the project by Aug. 21 unless the Supreme Court steps in to approve the overhaul.
“We’re hopeful that the Supreme Court recognizes that so we can get the ballroom finished as soon as possible. Remember, yes, it is a ballroom, but it’s also a meaningful upgrade and necessary part of the security of this city and the security of the president and his family,” Blanche said Sunday.
“And so it’s not just about a place for world leaders to come and have dinner, it’s also about making sure that the president and his family, guests, world leaders are safe when they’re in this city,” he added.
The president’s argument that the ballroom would support national security has been rejected by Democratic lawmakers, who urged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an audit tied to the project , which is currently funded by a mix of private donations and taxpayer funds.
“The scale of this project, the destruction of historic architecture, the opaque and unorthodox combination of public funds with private funding sources, and the absence of standard federal review processes raise serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and stewardship of this national landmark,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the acting GAO comptroller general, Orice Williams Brown.
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