Senate parliamentarian deals setback to Trump’s ballroom security funding
The Senate parliamentarian has struck millions in White House security funding out of Republicans’ immigration enforcement bill, sowing further doubt about whether the money will be approved by Congress later this month.
The Saturday decision, part of a “Byrd bath” that sorts out what language can skirt the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold, may be a temporary setback. Republicans can submit legislative tweaks to Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough aimed at meeting the strict rules of reconciliation, a budget process that lets them sidestep Democratic opposition, and have signaled they will do so.
Its fate, however, remains unclear even if revised language survives a challenge from Democrats, who are seeking to derail the legislation ahead of a floor vote slated for next week. Several Senate Republicans are publicly undecided on whether to approve the $1 billion for the Secret Service, much of which is earmarked for President Donald Trump’s planned East Wing ballroom.
Democrats have painted the ballroom as an elaborate vanity project and sign that the president is out of touch with voters’ cost-of-living concerns.
There is also uncertainty over whether House Republicans will go along with the provision, a late addition to the bill that came after a shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner last month that appeared to target the president.
The legislation is otherwise focused on providing $70 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and related agencies, and until now, leadership has been reluctant to expand its scope.
Undecided members have expressed openness to some aspects of the funding, aimed at securing a new East Wing expansion where the ballroom, currently under litigation, is expected to be built. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told reporters a new checkpoint to screen visitors, estimated to cost $180 million, would be a “legitimate” use of taxpayer dollars.
But the price tag has given some Republicans pause, and GOP leadership can only afford to lose three votes on the Senate floor.
“I do think that the effort to have a more user-friendly security entry is legitimate to look at,” Murkowski said. “But if you’re tacking on every ask that the Secret Service wants for the next three years and trying to roll that all into the cover of ballroom renovation, I think our job is to sort this out.”
Trump has promised to finance the ballroom with private donations, but Republicans also fear the security funding will be viewed as tacit approval for the project as Democrats promise to make it a campaign attack line.
The Trump administration began a full-court press to win over reluctant members this week, with Secret Service Director Sean Curran briefing Senate Republicans on Tuesday. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also updated centrist House members on Capitol Hill Wednesday. On Thursday, Curran briefed a group of House Republicans at the White House.
The ruling from the Senate parliamentarian comes ahead of multiple committee votes that will tee up the immigration enforcement bill for the Senate floor. That includes a “vote-a-rama” during which Democrats will be given another chance to strip the $1 billion out of the bill.
“Democrats will keep fighting this every way we can — in the Byrd Bath, on the Senate floor with votes, and anywhere else Republicans try to raid Americans’ hard-earned money for Trump’s gilded palace,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a Saturday night statement. “The contrast couldn’t be clearer: Democrats fight for American families. Republicans fight for Trump.”
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.
Sign in to leave a comment.