Trump administration asks Supreme Court to allow ballroom construction

President Donald Trumps administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the White House to resume construction on its $400 million ballroom project while it appeals a lower courts order to halt the work.

Trumps solicitor general on Friday petitioned the high court to suspend last weeks decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

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The divided panel ruled last week Trump must stop the White House ballrooms construction because Congress has not approved the project. The panels majority said Trump doesnt have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the White Houses East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall.

The lower court suspended its own ruling for two weeks to give Trump's Republican administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court. The solicitor general asked the Supreme Court to rule on its stay petition before the appeals court panels decision takes effect on Aug. 21.

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"This case involves an extraordinary and unlawful injunction that will halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex, including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security, the solicitor general wrote.

The lower courts 2-1 decision sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction of the ballroom.