Chief Justice John Roberts issued an administrative, or temporary, stay on Friday, Aug. 21, allowing construction to continue on the White House ballroom. The order set aside a district court injunction that would have halted work by midnight, but it offered no explanation for the decision.
The stay is procedural rather than a final ruling on the merits. By describing it as administrative and temporary, the Court appears to be preserving the current situation while it decides whether to take further action on the underlying dispute. The title of the analysis, "The decision before the decision," points to this being a preliminary step ahead of a more substantive ruling.
Because the Chief Justice's order explained nothing, the legal reasoning behind the stay remains unclear. The immediate practical effect, however, is that construction may proceed despite the lower court's injunction, at least until the Court acts again.