US President Donald Trump has requested the Supreme Court to enable him to continue building a $400 million ballroom at the White House without congressional permission.
The emergency application comes just a week after an appeals court ordered construction to stop until Congress approved. This meant it upheld a ruling won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued the administration last year.
In the newest filing, the US Solicitor General, John Sauer, asked that work be allowed to carry on while the administration appeals the stop-work order, which he dubbed dangerous.
The president has argued for a long time that the White House lacks a large event space and that building one is crucial for national security.