Senate Republicans drop $1 billion for White House ballroom

Senate Republicans removed $1 billion for security upgrades tied to President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom on Wednesday, clearing the way for a long-stalled immigration enforcement spending bill to advance.

The money had been sought for U.S. Secret Service improvements connected to the new ballroom, which Trump wants built on the site of the demolished White House East Wing. The BBC reported the request followed an April shooting at a gala Trump attended at a hotel. Trump has said the ballroom is needed to host official state functions and update security facilities, and has repeatedly said the project itself would be paid for with private donations.

The funding became a flashpoint as Republicans tried to move a broader reconciliation package intended to finance immigration agencies through the rest of Trump’s term. The BBC reported the bill would provide roughly $72 billion for immigration agencies, while The Guardian described it as authorizing $70 billion for agencies involved in Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

The measure advanced Wednesday on a party-line vote. The BBC reported the vote as 53-45, while The Guardian reported it as 53-46. The Senate will now debate the bill and consider amendments before a final vote. If it passes, the measure will go to the House of Representatives before it can be sent to Trump for his signature.

Democrats had argued that the ballroom-related security money did not belong in the immigration bill, and the Senate parliamentarian agreed that it did not comply with budget reconciliation rules. Reconciliation allows the majority party to bypass the Senate filibuster, but provisions must meet strict budgetary requirements.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats had forced Republicans to retreat.

“Even without Trump’s billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ballroom – which Democrats successfully killed despite Republicans’ best efforts – this bill is rotten through and through,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

He also threatened to use the reconciliation amendment process, known as “vote-a-rama,” to force Republicans into politically difficult votes. “Republicans will have to vote on costs. Republicans will have to vote on tariffs. Republicans will have to vote on Trump’s disastrous war with Iran. Republicans will have to vote on ICE and border patrol’s abuses of power,” he said.

A White House official disputed the framing that Republicans had chosen to abandon the funding, telling The Guardian: “The parliamentarian’s decision was reported weeks ago. This framing is false as it implies that Republicans removed it deliberately rather than under parliamentary pressure.”

The Guardian reported that the revised measure would allocate $13 billion to Customs and Border Protection, $31 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $2.5 billion to the Department of Homeland Security, all for immigration enforcement.

The bill had also been delayed by Republican objections to a Justice Department proposal for a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people allegedly harmed by government overreach. Critics said the fund could become a way to pay Trump allies, including rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol in 2021 in an attempt to prevent former President Joe Biden from taking office.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that the Justice Department was dropping the proposal, though he declined to put that commitment in writing. Trump later told reporters he would “have to ask the lawyers” when asked about the plan.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he plans to introduce legislation banning such a fund. Other Republicans have criticized it, and Democrats have said they also plan legislation to block it.