A report in Punchbowl News suggests that funding related to President Trump's ballroom might be in trouble thanks to opposition within his own party. Republicans in the House and Senate are balking at the White House push to tuck $1 billion for the ballroom into an immigration-focused reconciliation bill, according to the outlet, raising doubts the money survives even a GOP-run Congress. The White House says the money is for security, not construction of the controversial project, in line with Trump's pledge that private donors would foot the cost of building it.
Language in the funding bill released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley stipulates that the money is earmarked "for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features," per NBC News. But critics want the White House to spell out in more detail where the money would go.
House Republicans warn the vote is politically perilous, with one unnamed lawmaker telling Punchbowl News there's "no way in hell" it gets the 218 votes needed. Speaker Mike Johnson can afford only two defections, but multiple moderates and former Republican-turned-Independent Kevin Kiley are already signaling resistance—both to the ballroom money and to expanding the bill beyond immigration enforcement. Over in the Senate, the provision may not survive reconciliation's strict rules or an amendment onslaught, and Appropriations Chair Susan Collins says Congress still needs to hear a clear justification. Democrats, meanwhile, are eager to frame the fight as Republicans funding ICE and Trump's ballroom while ignoring inflation.
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