Senate Republicans have officially removed up to $1 billion that had been earmarked for security upgrades to a proposed 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom from a revised budget reconciliation bill released Wednesday. The move is a blow to President Trump, who had lobbied GOP senators for weeks, arguing the project was needed after an armed man tried to rush the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April. Instead, the Hill reports, Republicans are advancing a Homeland Security-focused package that pours tens of billions into Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement through 2029.
The bill, which they call the Secure America Act, steers funds to hiring, training, and equipping border and investigative personnel, plus billions more for border security technology and operations. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said the measure would strengthen DHS and sidestep Democratic resistance in the regular budget process, while GOP Whip John Barrasso framed it as a vote for "safe communities" and tighter borders.
Democrats forced the changes, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday on the Senate floor. "Even without Trump's billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ballroom—which Democrats successfully killed despite Republicans' best efforts—this bill is rotten through and through," he said. Trump has said that private donors would pay for the ballroom, but his administration had asked Congress for money the Secret Service would use to secure the new building.
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