Federal prosecutors have once more petitioned a court to remove a legal barrier blocking President Donald Trump’s ballroom construction project, citing Saturday’s White House shooting as evidence of pressing security needs.
In court documents submitted Sunday spanning five pages, the Justice Department argued the weekend incident demonstrates the urgent requirement for “top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the ballroom,” describing the project as essential for national security purposes. The filing also requests dismissal of the entire legal challenge to the construction.
This marks the second time the DOJ has sought to have a federal judge dismiss the ballroom lawsuit, previously making a similar request following a thwarted attack during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April.
The legal challenge originates from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization. The group indicated it would continue pursuing its lawsuit despite the Justice Department’s April request to abandon the case following that month’s security incident.
According to the Secret Service, the individual who opened fire at a White House checkpoint Saturday was struck by officers and later died at a hospital Saturday evening.
