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- [00:01]
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- [00:34]
Political News Commentator
We have breaking news right now. Donald Trump's afternoon is seemingly going from bad to worse as a federal judge has just ruled that the Trump administration cannot continue constructing the massive White House ballroom on White House grounds until such time that Congress approves of the construction. The 30 plus page order issued by Judge Richard Leon in the District Court for the District of Columbia effectively halts all construction on Donald Trump's multi hundred million dollar ballroom on White House grounds. And the reasoning? Well, if Trump wants to do something like this and interfere with a landmark like the White House, he has to go to Congress to do it. And he didn't do it. Here it comes amid Trump's sinking approval numbers, Fox News even recognizing that the war in Iran is not beneficial to Trump and much more. As always, like comment, share and subscribe. The more you like, the more people watch and subscribe to my substack. Click the link below to support my work as we build this independent media apparatus. Here is the Court's order begins by discussing the likelihood of success on the merits. This case in essence is about whether the President has the authority to build a ballroom on White House grounds with private funds without seeking authorization from Congress. National Trust asserts that defendants actions are ultravirus of statutory authority and violate the apa, the Administrative Procedures Act. But why do defendants even need statutory authority in the first place? Let's look at the Constitution, Judge Leon says. By the way, Judge Leon is one of the most prolific writers that you'll ever read. He guest taught one of the classes that I took in law school. And yes, he's a Republican appointee. He's a part of the federal society, a big conservative judge, but he has been known to issue decisions like the present one that goes directly against a Republican incumbent President's interests. So he talks about going to the Constitution and he first says look at the property clause. Because the Property clause vests Congress with complete authority over public lands. Not the executive, not the judiciary, but rather Congress has the responsibility to oversee what happens on public lands, and the White House is located on public lands. He goes on to say that the Appropriations clause is the second clause that we need to look at. The appropriation clause provides that money may be drawn from the treasury only in consequence of appropriations made by law. So he essentially says that the only time you can pull money out to conduct spending by the federal government is when Congress allows it. And then finally, the third clause, the district clause, he looks at Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, concerns legislative authority. Who has authority over the District of Columbia? Once again, that answer is Congress. He says together, the property Appropriations and District clauses establish Congress's primacy over federal property spending in the District of Columbia. Indeed, defendants have declined to argue that they have inherent constitutional authority to build the ballroom. So the President must identify some law that allows him to demolish the East Wing and constructs his planned ballroom with private funds. For the following reasons, I conclude that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits and its ultravirus claims because no law comes close to giving the President this authority. So essentially, the court says, we're going to grant a preliminary injunction. We're going to stop. And by the way, a preliminary injunction is not an easy bar to meet. It's a pretty high bar to meet because you don't get preliminary injunctions every day. But today they got one. Because if the construction continued, there's nothing, nothing that can be done to stop it in the future. Right. You can't unbuild an already built structure. And so that's kind of what the court's saying here. And the court also goes on to talk about how Trump and his administration asked the court to ignore the full text of the statute in favor of the two words plucked free from all statutory context, contrary to its plain reading. And so it's unconstitutional. Goes through a number of other statutory authority as well, over whether or not you can build, whether you can erect a structure on any park, reservation, or public ground in the District of Clean Columbia without this explicit congressional approval. And the answer is no. And while his conclusion. This is kind of. When I said he's one of the most prolific writers, because I think it's a very pointed conclusion, he says, quote, where does this leave us? Unfortunately, defendants, unless and until Congress blesses us this project through statutory authorization, Congress has to. Construction has to stop. But here's the good news. It's not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project. The President may at any time go to Congress to abstain itself to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds. Indeed, Congress may even choose to appropriate funds for the ballroom or at least decide that some other funding scheme is acceptable. Either way, Congress will thereby retain its authority over the nation's property and its oversight over the government spending. National trust interest in a constitutional and lawful process will be vindicated, and the American people will benefit from the branches of government exercising their constitutionally prescribed roles. Not a bad outcome. Then it comes as the Iran war continues overseas and even Fox News questioning whether or not the president drew us into it under false pretenses. Take a listen.
- [06:10]
Political Analyst
So if we cannot come to some type of peace deal with people who can't be trusted, then what? Well, looks like the US Is going to escalate. President Trump is already warning of widespread further damage, threatening to hit electric generating plants, oil wells and carg island, as he's reportedly considering sending ground troops in to secure the uranium. Now, knowing what little time we have and how quickly this can spiral out of control, we still have a lot of questions. For instance, was the president fully briefed about the risks of all of this from the beginning, and was he then able to take it all in and understand the. The complexity of this, how complex it could actually get, and further possibilities of casualties or other damage, the difficulty of dealing with these people? Or was he told this would be relatively quick in and out?
- [07:09]
Political News Commentator
It's a lot of good questions. And, well, Pete Hexseth today kind of said, you know what, it's time for our allies to step up. But people quickly pointed out, you brought us into this mess and now they have to go clean the mess up themselves. Take a listen.
- [07:22]
Pete Hegseth
It was clear this morning it is truth that there are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. It's not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well. So he's pointing out this is an international waterway that we use less than most, in fact, dramatically less than most. So the world ought pay attention and be prepared to stand up. President Trump's been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran. It's not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion's share of preparation to ensure that that strait will be. Will be open, which is an outcome the president's been very clear on.
- [08:06]
Political News Commentator
So that's right now where we're at. You have a ballroom in shambles, a war that doesn't have much support from even your own allies, and a president who who seemingly doesn't really care. As always like Comment, share and subscribe subscribe to my substack. Click the link below to support my work and I'm going to have another update for you soon. And I encourage you if you can, comment below and let me know what you think of the craziness of the news cycle that we're seeing today. Stay tuned and I'll see you soon. Hey folks, thanks so much for watching. Feel free to add this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you watch for the latest breaking news and daily hits throughout the day. Make sure to follow subscribe. See you soon for more.
- [08:48]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [09:10]
Amazon Music Announcer
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