India, Aug. 8 -- A US federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of its proposed $400 million White House ballroom, ruling that President Donald Trump cannot move ahead with the project without approval from Congress.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that the President lacked the unilateral authority to construct the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site where the White House's East Wing previously stood before its demolition.

The court stayed its ruling for two weeks to allow the administration time to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

'Congress must decide,' Court says

The appeals court stressed that the disp...