The White House’s push to add $1 billion for new security at the White House campus and for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom is running into uncertainty inside the Republican-led Senate as lawmakers weigh whether they can assemble the votes needed to pass the proposal this week.
Republicans have been reshaping the package after the Senate parliamentarian said Saturday that the security additions did not meet the requirements to be included in legislation intended to fund immigration enforcement agencies. Even with revisions aimed at satisfying that procedural standard, AP reported that support for the security money remains unclear among several GOP senators.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Tuesday that the decision will come down to the internal vote-count question. Thune said there were “ongoing conversations within the Senate and the House and with the White House” over what the legislation should look like and what could meet the parliamentarian’s standards.
Within the GOP, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana signaled he would oppose the plan if it includes the $1 billion price tag for White House security. Cassidy said the proposal is premature and pointed to what he described as unanswered questions about the project, saying the Trump administration has not provided Congress with engineering assessments, environmental evaluations or architectural work, and he criticized the idea as coming at a time when Americans face affordability pressures.
Cassidy also referenced the Trump administration’s pledge to use private donations for the ballroom security, saying the president had told lawmakers he would use private donations rather than public funding. Other Republicans have raised similar doubts, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and AP reported that Sen. Thom Tillis said he opposed the idea if the proposal remains unchanged.
The security debate is unfolding as Senate Republicans try to defend their majority in this year’s midterm elections and as Democrats frame affordability as a central issue. In remarks reported by AP, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Americans “can barely afford to keep a roof over their own heads” and argued the country should not be forced to pay for a “golden roof over Trump’s head.”
AP also tied the ballroom security fight to broader friction between the Senate and the White House in recent days. Thune told reporters Tuesday morning that he did not see a purpose for a separate White House-linked development involving a $1.8 billion court settlement intended to compensate Trump’s allies who believe they were targeted politically, and the AP report described additional strain after Trump’s surprise endorsement in the Texas Republican primary, which angered some GOP senators who had pressed him to endorse Sen. John Cornyn instead.
While not every Republican in the Senate has opposed the security money, AP reported that Sen. Jim Justice said he supported the funding as necessary to protect the president, while conceding the political optics were not favorable and that lawmakers had not communicated about the plan effectively. Justice said the debate was also occurring amid concerns from constituents about basic costs, including gas prices.
As the bill advances toward a floor vote, Republicans are considering options such as reducing the amount for White House security or narrowing the proposal significantly. AP reported that Republicans are using a budget maneuver called reconciliation to bypass Democrats, who have blocked funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for months, and Thune said the immigration enforcement money is the “principal objective” of the legislation.
Once the measure reaches the Senate floor, AP reported that lawmakers will face a sequence of votes in which Democrats can try to strip out parts of the bill. Separately, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced the immigration portions of a $72 billion measure on Tuesday, with Democrats proposing dozens of amendments that sought changes including requiring agents to display their last names and identification numbers on uniforms and requiring a judicial warrant before breaking into a home; AP said the GOP-led committee blocked the Democratic amendments.
MSI previously reported that Senate Republicans were defending the $1 billion plan for Trump’s White House ballroom security ahead of the parliamentarian’s ruling here.