The Court Is Totally Wrong on Separation of Powers
The Atlantic argues that the Supreme Court's recent decision regarding the construction of a White House ballroom misinterprets the separation of powers. The author contends that the executive branch is acting without congressional authorization, rather than the court being overly interventionist.
Why it matters
It highlights a significant constitutional debate regarding the limits of executive power and the role of Congress in controlling federal property and spending.
The problem with Trump’s ballroom isn’t a too-eager judicial branch but a lawless executive.
Illustration by Allison Davis / The Atlantic. Sources: Kevin Carter / Getty; Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg / Getty; fotograzia. September 2, 2026, 10:38 AM ET Share Save In deciding to allow President Trump to proceed with constructing a new ballroom, which Congress has not authorized, at the White House, which Trump does not own, the U.S. Supreme Court invoked the separation of powers. But the Court got the constitutional problem precisely backwards: The separation-of-powers problem isn’t that courts are impermissibly blocking the president’s use of taxpayer funds to create a ballroom. It’s that the president is impermissibly using unauthorized taxpayer funds to create a ballroom.
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