Trump calls split ruling his biggest win, then returns to the same court for a third appeal.

As it ran on the front

He called it a win. On Wednesday, in the Oval Office, President Trump told reporters the Supreme Court had cleared the way for his $400 million White House ballroom, and that the crews pouring its foundation were, in his words, very happy construction workers. A win, full stop — unanimous, obviously, the nation's highest court standing behind him. Except it was not unanimous. It was 5-4. The missing fifth vote belonged to Chief Justice John Roberts, who didn't simply sit out the majority — he crossed over, sided with the three liberal justices, and wrote that the ballroom construction the president was celebrating is likely unlawful. The Court let the bulldozers keep running while the case underneath them is still being argued. The win is a green light with the Chief Justice standing in the crosswalk holding a red flag.

The administration treats that ruling like it treats most fights this fall: build first, argue later, and when a court gets in the way, go back and ask again. Take the mail ballot rule. The Postal Service's new restriction has already been blocked twice by a federal judge in Massachusetts. After the second block, the Justice Department went straight to the Supreme Court and settled the matter, first try — except that isn't what happened. On August 28, the department appealed that second block to the U.S. Court of Appeals, not the Supreme Court. It took until September 3 for the administration to finally ask the Supreme Court itself to lift the block. By September 7, CBS News was reporting the government's latest filing was its third emergency appeal on mail ballots in a matter of weeks — same rule, same judge's block, a third trip up the same marble steps hoping nine people answer differently this time.…