In a court filing, the department said Saturday’s shooting outside the White House underscores the critical need for ‘top level’ security

The Justice Department, in ‌a five-page court filing on Sunday, said the incident underscores the critical need for “top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the ballroom”, adding that it was vital for national security. It also asks for the lawsuit challenging the project to ⁠be dismissed.

The court filing stated: “This is a terrible, tremendously harmful case to the United ‌States of America, and all it stands for!”

US District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former president George W. Bush ‌sitting in Washington, ruled in April that Trump lacked legal authority ⁠to build the ⁠ballroom without congressional approval.

Leon issued an injunction that halted “above-ground construction of the planned ballroom”, but his ‌order was quickly put on hold by an appeal court. Construction has continued.

The Justice Department had previously ‌asked ‌Leon to dissolve his injunction and throw out the lawsuit over the ‌ballroom after a foiled attack at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner ⁠in April. Leon has not acted on that request.