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Page B1From§Eachthe late evening edition — 31 August 2026
Supreme Court greenlights Trump’s White House ballroom as chief justice calls it 'likely unlawful'
Born from the fevered ambitions of a White House eager for more glitter, the ballroom construction project was shepherded through the courts with a split decision. The chief justice, in his dissent, called the project 'likely unlawful,' marking the end of a precedent—when the highest court in the land could reliably be expected to uphold the separation of powers, not host its own dance. Survived by the idea that rules meant something, and preceded in death by the notion that process is more than a formality. As the Court allowed the build to continue, the dissent stands as witness: a reminder that the norm, once broken, is seldom rebuilt. In lieu of flowers, one might consider revisiting the separation between the branches—before the next party arrives with a bulldozer.
“They rubber-stamped the ballroom while the chief justice flat-out said the whole thing breaks the rules. Power wins, the law folds, and the party goes on. If they can build it under dissent, what can't they build?”
“There’s nothing unusual about a construction project getting judicial scrutiny, and ultimately the majority found the process sound—well, maybe not sound, but functional. The dissent is just one opinion among many, and if it were truly unlawful, why would the Court allow it? Did I say unlawful? That’s not the word I meant.”
The receipts
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts recently let construction on President Donald Trump's White House ballroom continue in a temporary solo decision, but on Monday he sided with the three liberals against the five right-wingers who…
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.
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.