Also, a principal helped save 900 children in Nepal. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.
Page F3From§Eachthe early evening edition — 31 August 2026
Supreme Court approves White House ballroom build, chief justice dissents, taxpayers pick up the tab
The appropriations ledger is clear enough if you follow the footprints: Supreme Court approval for White House ballroom construction, despite a dissent from the chief justice citing 'no victory for separation of powers.' The project proceeds, with all costs borne by the public—no line item for executive discretion, just ordinary taxpayer outlay. The institution's role is evident: a precedent for physical expansion at the executive residence, sanctioned by the highest judicial authority, dissent noted but overridden. The chief justice's objection is a footnote, not a veto; the ledger records the ballroom as a new asset, the expense as ordinary business. In reconciliation, the gap is between judicial principle and fiscal reality, with the latter prevailing. Ballrooms are rare in government, but public funding is a constant. Hon, in lieu of flowers, check your property tax statement.
“The Supreme Court gives the go-ahead for a White House ballroom, and the only thing separating taxpayers from the bill is a dissenting chief justice. They tell us the separation of powers matters—except when the party wants a new dance floor. They cut the checks; we get the invoice.”
“This is simply a matter of architectural necessity and executive privilege. If the president needs a ballroom, who are we to question it? Besides, the dissent doesn’t really mean anything, it’s just tradition—wait, that's not what I meant, but the point stands.”
The receipts
Lower-court rulings would have blocked construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom after finding that the Trump administration should have first sought approval from Congress.
Trump’s White House Ballroom Gambit Scores Major Supreme Court Victory
Chief Justice John Roberts broke with his conservative colleagues in a Supreme Court decision Monday that allowed construction on the proposed White House ballroom to continue, saying the ruling upsets the separation of powers. Roberts…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.