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Republicans in the U.S. Senate are pressing for changes to a White House-backed proposal seeking $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and President Donald Trump’s new ballroom, and multiple GOP senators have signaled they may not support the plan even if Republicans satisfy the chamber’s procedural constraints.
The White House and the U.S. Secret Service have pushed for the funding, according to the measure expected to come before the Senate this week. But the Senate parliamentarian said Saturday that the proposal did not meet requirements to be included in legislation intended to fund immigration enforcement agencies, prompting Republican lawmakers to revise how the plan fits within the bill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the outcome would depend on the Senate’s vote math. “In the end it’s going to come down to what we have the votes to pass,” Thune said, adding that conversations were underway among Senate and House Republicans and with the White House about what the legislation could include and still meet the parliamentarian’s standards.
Within the GOP caucus, at least some senators have focused less on process and more on the price tag and project readiness. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said he would be unlikely to support a bill that keeps a $1 billion figure for White House security, and he framed the request as incompatible with the priorities of many voters.
People “can’t afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we’re going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?” Cassidy asked. He said the proposal—designed to pay for Secret Service training and a new visitor center at the White House, along with security for Trump’s ballroom—was premature, and he cited the Trump administration’s inability, in his view, to provide Congress engineering assessments, environmental evaluations or architectural work.
Cassidy also said the Trump administration has pledged to use private donations to pay for the project. He warned that if the administration’s plan depends on private giving, the administration still faced questions that he said were not resolved for lawmakers. “And by the way, the president has pledged to us that he would use private donations to pay for it,” Cassidy said.
Other GOP senators raised similar doubts about support. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska suggested they might not back the security funding among others, and Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he opposed the proposal if it remained unchanged.
The security funding debate is unfolding as Democrats emphasize affordability in the lead-up to midterm elections and as Senate Republicans work to defend their majority. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Americans “can barely afford to keep a roof over their own heads,” and argued that they should not be forced to pay for what he described as “a golden roof over Trump’s head.”
In recent days, the White House and Senate Republicans have also clashed on other issues, including over the announcement of a $1.8 billion court settlement intended to compensate Trump’s allies who believe they were targeted politically. Thune told reporters Tuesday morning, “I don’t see a purpose for that.”
Later Tuesday, Trump made a surprise endorsement in the Texas Republican primary, backing the opponent of incumbent Sen. John Cornyn. Murkowski described her mood as “Not very enthusiastic” after Trump’s endorsement and the Republicans’ weekly conference lunch, while Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., said he supports the security money and that it is necessary to protect the president, though he conceded the optics were difficult for Republicans.
Looking ahead, Republicans are considering reducing the amount of money for White House security or narrowing the proposal as they try to win votes and satisfy the parliamentarian. They are also 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.
Thune said the immigration enforcement money is the “principal objective” of the legislation, according to the report. Once the measure is on the floor, the Senate is set to conduct a series of votes in which Democrats can propose amendments to strip out parts of the bill, and Republicans are weighing how much room they have to hold onto the White House security additions.
On Tuesday morning, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced the immigration portions of a $72 billion measure. In that meeting, Democrats offered dozens of amendments, but the GOP-led committee blocked all of the Democratic proposals, including efforts that would have required federal agents to display their last names and identification numbers on their uniforms and would have required a judicial warrant before breaking into a home.