(WASHINGTON) — A federal appeals court issued a ruling Friday blocking the construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom, concluding that congressional approval is needed for the project. 

Judges Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia rebuked President Trump for making the unprecedented changes to the historic structure without consulting Congress.

“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence. The President has no — and claims no — constitutionally assigned authority over that property,” they wrote. 

They concluded that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued to block the construction, demonstrated that only Congress has the authority to approve the changes, and that it never delegated that authority to Trump. 

“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” they wrote. 

“This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom. What it does mean is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorization, as the Constitution and laws require,” they said. 

Trump, in a social media post, said he would immediately appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Judge Neomi Rao dissented from the majority, concluding that the National Trust for Historic Preservation does not have the jurisdiction to bring the lawsuit. She also argued that it is “likely within the President’s authority to make improvements to the Executive Residence” and that the Trump administration would be harmed by the blocking construction. 

“The district court elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the President’s home and office,” she wrote. 

“In deciding the ballroom construction “has to stop!” the district court transgressed the equitable authority of the federal courts. The preliminary injunction is a clear abuse of discretion and must be vacated,” Judge Neomi Rao wrote.

The ruling does not take effect for two weeks, allowing time for the Trump administration time to appeal.

The White House announced the construction of the 90,000-square foot ballroom last July, and demolition began suddenly on the East Wing in late October when workers were spotted tearing down that wing of the White House.

While the appeals court acknowledged the national security concerns associated with the East Wing renovations, the majority said that those concerns are not an “automatic get-out-of-law-free card” to violate the law. 

“Congress has not given the Park Service authority, specifically and expressly, or otherwise, to raze protected historic sites in the name of presidential functions or national security,” wrote Judges Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia. 

The majority added that national security concerns are exactly the reason why Congress should be involved in the project. 

“It is Congress’s job to ensure that any major construction and security projects at the White House will protect the safety of all Presidents, present and future, while preserving the historical and architectural significance of that unique location. Congress cannot perform its constitutional function when the Executive chooses to proceed wholly unilaterally,” they wrote. 

Judge Neomi Rao disagreed with her colleagues, saying that halting the construction “inevitably extends the time during which the President’s residence remains less secure.”  

“The security risks presented by large offsite events involving the President were unfortunately confirmed by the assassination attempt against President Trump at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” she added in a footnote. 

Judge Rao criticized the analysis reached by her colleagues, arguing that the harms suffered by the Trump administration from a delay would outweigh the “aesthetic harm” cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

“The government should not be forced to rely on the district court’s architectural approval to secure the President’s home and office,” she wrote. 

The district court judge who originally blocked the construction of the ballroom modified his injunction in April to allow work related to security to proceed, while the ballroom-related construction was halted.

Even if the Supreme Court does not side in Trump’s favor, the current legal posture would allow “below-ground construction of national security facilities, work necessary to provide for presidential security, and construction necessary to protect and secure the White House and the construction site itself,” the judge wrote.

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(NEW YORK) — The water level at Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir by storage capacity, hit a record low on Thursday.

Lake Mead’s pool elevation hit the new low at 1,040.50 feet, breaking the previous record of 1,040.58 feet set in July 2022, according to data published by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Friday.

The reservoir, formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, is located in Nevada and Arizona and supplies water to millions of U.S. residents.

Prolonged drought conditions and exceptionally low snowpack have contributed to the significant declines in water levels at several Colorado River Basin reservoirs this year.

Elevation at the nation’s second largest reservoir, Lake Powell, was measuring at 3,521.43 feet as of Thursday, according to the Bureau of Reclamation — nearing the previous record low of 3,519.92 feet set in April 2023 and the critical level needed for the reservoir to produce hydropower. A new record low at the Utah-Arizona reservoir could also be reached this month, projections show.

The Colorado River basin is a critical system for residents in the western U.S. and Mexico. The basin provides water for up to 40 million people and hydropower to the seven basin states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Since the beginning of the year, hydrologists have been warning about the potential for water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell to hit critical levels as a result of record-low snowpack over the winter months.

Much of the western U.S. entered the winter already grappling with drought conditions from lack of rain. But warmer-than-normal temperatures during the winter prevented snow from accumulating, which led to a lack of snowmelt flowing into watersheds once spring came.

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(NEW YORK) — A man who federal prosecutors in Atlanta nicknamed “master of disguise” is facing federal charges Thursday for allegedly robbing 10 businesses at gunpoint while dressed in different costumes.

Tracy Mingo is accused of using disguises to evade identification so he could target employees at Circle K, Subway and Family Dollar stores throughout the Atlanta area between October 2025 and January 2026, the FBI said.

Mingo allegedly entered each of the stores late at night — after all or nearly all customers had left — and robbed employees at gunpoint, officials said.

He allegedly donned disguises, including a construction worker, a health care professional and a security guard, according to the indictment.

Police and the FBI arrested Mingo in January when they said it appeared he was putting on the same security guard disguise used during the robbery of a Circle K store the night before. Mingo, 33, of College Park, Georgia, is now charged with 20 counts, including Hobbs Act robbery, attempted Hobbs Act robbery, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

“For months, Mingo allegedly used disguises in an attempt to evade identification and continue targeting innocent workers at gunpoint,” FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Marlo Graham said in a statement. “He underestimated the determination of the investigators pursuing him and the strength of the partnerships that exist between the FBI and our state and local law enforcement partners.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A 21-year-old pregnant mother has been detained, along with her infant son, for more than a month at the family immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas, her family and an advocacy group told ABC News.

Laura Rojas Ortiz was in the process of applying for a U visa — which is for victims or witnesses of crimes — when she was detained during a check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas, her mother said.

“She was called to appear [at an ICE office] in Dallas,” her mother, Paola, said in Spanish. “She showed up like she always does, and they detained her.”

Paola told ABC News that her daughter turned herself in at the southern border over a year ago with her infant son and partner. The mother claims Rojas Ortiz later began the process of applying for a U visa after there was a shooting in her neighborhood and a bullet went through the walls, allegedly grazing her son.

According to Paola and a friend of Rojas Ortiz, the 21-year-old had been wearing an ankle monitor and regularly checking in with ICE before she was detained with her son as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.

Rojas Ortiz, who is five months pregnant, has been detained for more than 40 days, her family said. Her mother says Rojas Ortiz has a high-risk pregnancy and has not been seen by medical staff at Dilley.

“To this day, she hasn’t gotten an ultrasound or been seen by a specialist,” Paola told ABC News. “They haven’t done blood tests or anything.”

Immigrant advocacy groups have said that arrests and detentions of pregnant women violate an ICE directive stating that the agency should not “detain, arrest, or continue to detain individuals known to be pregnant, postpartum, or nursing” except under exceptional circumstances.

Paola said her grandson, who had been drinking only lactose-free milk, has been given whole milk at Dilley.

Paola also told ABC News that when lawmakers recently visited the facility, ICE staff moved her daughter to a “medical room,” where she was told she was going to be checked by a doctor.

“And when they left — so that the politicians wouldn’t see her pregnant — that’s when they let her out of that medical room,” Paola said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Last week, Rep. Joaquin Castro, along with a group of Democratic lawmakers, visited the Dilley facility, where he said more than 500 people are currently detained. Castro said he was only allowed by staff to meet with one minor.

“There are now more children there than there were before,” Castro said at a press conference last week. “I believe that is the result of the ICE surge that we’ve seen over the last month or so. We’ve seen these raids on the street. We’ve seen families that have been torn apart on the street, brutality on the street.”

Casey Revkin, the executive director of Each Step Home, an organization that supports immigrant detainees, told ABC News that her group has been providing Rojas Ortiz with financial assistance.

“We’ve been filling Laura’s commissary account and the accounts of the families at Dilley every week. These deposits are a lifeline to families in detention,” Revkin said. “It’s heartbreaking to think of a child not eating, and we’re always so relieved when we hear that a mom was able to use the commissary support to buy her children food they can enjoy.”

Immigrant advocates, medical professionals, and lawmakers have previously raised concerns about conditions at the South Texas facility.

The top medical official at the Department of Homeland Security, which operates the nation’s migrant detention centers, has disputed any suggestion that detainees are being denied proper care.

“These allegations of illegal aliens being denied proper medical care in ICE custody are FALSE,” DHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sean Conley previously told ABC News in a statement. “It is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, women’s health, mental health services, any needed follow-up medical appointments, as well as 24-hour emergency care.”

“This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives,” Conley’s statement said.

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(NEW YORK) — Two municipal water systems in New Jersey were targeted in cyberattacks in the last week, widely thought to be the work of Iran, the state said Wednesday.

The affected utilities, which were not named, were temporarily blinded when automated systems went down. Both utilities shifted to manual operations and the state said there was no disruption to service and both systems have been “secured with strengthened access controls.”

“Our New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC) responded to two cyber incidents affecting New Jersey municipal water systems this past week. The NJCCIC is working directly with the affected utilities alongside our federal partners at the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency,” the state said Wednesday.

“The investigations found that the incidents involved vulnerable internet-exposed control systems, which temporarily limited operators’ ability to monitor or manage them remotely. In both cases, staff shifted quickly to manual operations, and there was no disruption to service. Customers had uninterrupted access to safe drinking water throughout,” the state said.

Sources told ABC News that Iran remains the prime suspect, perhaps showing how it could retaliate as President Donald Trump threatens to escalate the war. 

Officials are also assessing whether this could be the work of a different state actor mimicking Iran’s tactics in a possible attempt to influence what the U.S. does next.

In Georgia, the Clayton County Water Authority briefly issued a boil-water advisory when it was targeted by hackers. Columbus Water Works said it also detected an intrusion, but drinking water was unaffected.

The recent hacks, affecting water and wastewater utilities in at least a dozen states, exploited a vulnerability in widely used utility software, sources told ABC News.

A fix has been issued, but utilities across the country that run the same software are racing to see if they were also hacked.

So far, it appears nobody has become sick, and there have been no widespread disruptions to water supplies. However, officials are still working to understand the scope of the hack and what could have happened to systems Americans depend on every day.

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