“If the government decides, very quickly, to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty — the people whose ancestors that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the government moved too fast — nothing can be done?” the judge asked.
“I think that’s right, yes,” Roth responded.
During a court hearing challenging Trump’s Bigly Ballroom, his personal law firm, the Department of Justice (DOJ), argued that the government could “bulldoze” the Statue of Liberty and no one, the Courts, Congress, etc. because the demolition was too far gone and could not be reversed. Trump destroyed the East Wing of the White House, the traditional headquarters for the first lady and her staff as well as the public entrance to the “people’s house,” to make way for his stupid, costly, and unnecessary ballroom.
The National Trust, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, argues that the White House grounds, a designated national park, cannot be updated without congressional approval. The park, like Yellowstone, they contend, can’t simply be repurposed at the whims of the administration.
“They just don’t want to go to Congress,” the trust’s attorney, Tad Heuer said, stressing that, under the Constitution, “Congress controls federal property.”
A federal judge in March halted construction on the ballroom during the legal battle, but the D.C. Circuit quickly paused the ruling, allowing construction to continue while the litigation is ongoing.
The Friday exchange underscored the Trump administration’s full-throttle effort to defend Trump’s massive reconstruction project, which the president has made clear is a personal priority, along with other aesthetic and architectural ambitions he has across Washington. Millett was joined in her skepticism by Judge Bradley Garcia, a Biden appointee.