Days after a U.S. district court judge ordered the White House to stop construction on its proposed ballroom expansion, a powerful federal commission just granted the project its formal approval. At the April 2 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), a largely Trump-aligned panel voted by a large majority to support the design of the White House ballroom. Eight of the 11 commissioners at the meeting voted “yes,” while two commissioners voted “present” and only one (Washington, D.C., Council chair Phil Mendelson) voted no. The vote is a crucial approval for the ballroom, known officially as the East Wing Modernization Project . The NCPC is a federal agency overseeing planning and design for federal land and buildings in the Washington, D.C., area. Its approval adds legitimacy to a construction project that many, including the recent court ruling , see as an overreach of power by the president.…