Senate Republicans said they will press forward with a proposal to set aside as much as $1 billion for the U.S. Secret Service to make security upgrades connected to Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, setting up a new fight with Democrats over whether taxpayer money should pay for parts of the construction.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, defended the plan as necessary for President Trump’s protection, telling colleagues that the total is “what it costs to protect the President of the United States in a very dangerous time and a dangerous world.” Thune also said keeping the president safe is “an expensive proposition,” arguing the Secret Service needs the “tools to do it.”
Republicans’ push comes as some lawmakers and parties question whether the security money is the right fit for the ballroom project and whether it matches Trump’s earlier statements about how the East Wing work would be paid for. Trump has said the construction would cost around $400 million, and Senate Republicans said Monday they are adding a separate figure for security upgrades to the project.
Democrats, meanwhile, said they plan to block or remove the security funds. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wrote to colleagues that Democrats would push Republicans to strip the ballroom security money from the bill, pointing to Trump’s earlier claim that “not one penny of taxpayer money would be used” for the ballroom. Schumer said the plan is “a staggering waste of taxpayer dollars” and said it has “nothing, nothing to do with security and everything to do with Trump’s ego.”
What Republicans say the money would cover
Republicans said the legislation would direct the money to the Secret Service and allow it for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the ballroom project, while specifying it may not be used for non-security elements. The language, as described by the AP, also contemplates upgrades including “above-ground and below-ground security features.”
Some lawmakers said the key question is how the Secret Service would spend the funds once Congress authorizes them. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, said she wants clarification from Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who is expected to attend a closed-door lunch with GOP senators Tuesday. Collins said the ballroom should be funded with private donations “as the president had indicated.”
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul also said he prefers the funding be private. Paul said Congress increased the Secret Service budget after an attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the 2024 campaign, and he asked whether any additional money is needed “at this time,” adding he wondered whether the proposal is “papering over for the, you know, the ballroom.”
Some GOP support, others seek more details
Not all Republicans appeared to oppose the security request. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said he had “no problem” with the proposal. Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis said private funding should pay for construction, but she said “the security part, there’s a role for the taxpayers.”
Other Republican senators said they may support the request but still want more information. House Republican leaders and lawmakers also signaled questions of their own as they weighed how, or whether, to align with the Senate proposal. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was expected to attend the Republican lunch Tuesday, and the House has not yet released its own bill.
Several House Republicans said they wanted to review the proposal. Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia said he would look at the Senate security request “very carefully” and ensure it remains in the “national interest.” Rep. Mike Haridopolos, of Florida, said he wants more details and said members should consider the “volatile times” while ensuring the president, members of Congress and guests can gather safely.
Democrats plan procedural pressure
Schumer said Democrats will also use procedural tools to try to eliminate the security money. He said Democrats would push the Senate parliamentarian to strike the ballroom security provision from the budget bill and would offer amendments that force Republicans to vote on it if the provision remains in the legislation when voting is expected to begin next week.
White House says East Wing would be fortified
Lawmakers from both parties said they were looking for additional detail beyond the top-line number. The AP reported that the bill would designate the money for the Secret Service, but the measure did not include extensive additional information about what would be built or upgraded.
The White House has described the East Wing project as “heavily fortified” in court documents, including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. Trump has said the project should include bulletproof glass and be able to repel drone attacks.
Trump said Friday that the money would be for “many of the projects” and that it would not all be spent on the ballroom itself, according to the AP. In remarks reported by the AP, Trump said lawmakers want to do “certain things militarily with respect to the ballroom” that would not be for “us” or “the safety of the president,” and he said those efforts would still produce “a safe ballroom.”