September 8, 2026
Joshua Wurtzel was recently quoted in The Hill on the future of the Trump Administration’s proposed $400 million White House ballroom after the Supreme Court lifted a lower-court injunction that had paused construction.
In the article, titled “Trump takes narrow Supreme Court rulings as big wins,” The Hill examines the Court’s August 31, 2026, decision that the National Trust for Historic Preservation lacked standing to challenge the project. Although the decision allows construction to move forward for now, the project could still face congressional scrutiny and further legal challenges.
As Josh explains, the pace of construction could complicate efforts to obtain meaningful relief, even if a court later finds the project unlawful.
“At that point, a court asking to halt further construction won't do much by granting that relief — which could itself undermine any request for an injunction in the first place,” Josh tells The Hill.
He notes that for potential challengers, the greater concern may be whether litigation can move quickly enough, rather than whether their claims ultimately succeed on the merits. “Thus, the real risk to a challenger here isn't losing on the merits — it's the project being finished before any court gets there,” he adds.
Read the full article in The Hill.
Joshua Wurtzel is a partner at Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP who focuses his practice on complex commercial, real-estate, and commercial-lending litigation. Mr. Wurtzel is a regular contributor to legal and real estate publications and also lectures on cutting-edge legal issues in the commercial real estate sector. He has been recognized on the Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch® in America” list in Commercial Litigation and the New York Metro Super Lawyers® "Rising Stars" list in Business Litigation.