Republicans are sweating about the White House ballroom project
· Axios
The billion-dollar request for the Secret Service isn't dead. But it is in doubt.
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Why it matters: Senate Republicans are struggling to get comfortable with providing $220 million to "harden" security at the White House complex — including President Trump's new East Wing ballroom.
Zoom in: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and the White House face a long week to learn if 50 Republicans — and the Senate parliamentarian — will sign off on the new funding as part of the $72 billion ICE and Border Patrol reconciliation package.
- GOP senators were unmoved by a line-item lobbying effort from Secret Service director Sean Curran in a closed-door lunch on Tuesday, first reported by Axios.
- "One of the biggest concerns on our side is adding to the deficit," Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters. Kennedy is preparing an amendment to trim the broader $72 billion ICE and Border Patrol package by $1 billion to offset the security funding.
- "It's not my favorite thing," Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told HuffPost.
🚔 Between the lines: Curran broke the proposed $1 billion request into six categories, including $180 million for a new White House visitor screening facility and $100 million for security at "high-profile national events."
- Thune sought to downplay the ballroom component, arguing that security tied to the East Wing expansion "represents about 20% of what this request was."
- "The ballroom is being financed privately," he said.
Zoom out: The funding proposal is also in trouble in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has a tiny margin on party-line votes.
- "Not happening here," swing district Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told Politico of the billion-dollar funding.
🛑 The other side: Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) plans to offer amendments during next week's vote-a-rama to strip funding for the East Wing security upgrades.
- "I call on my Republican colleagues to redirect this funding toward supporting our law enforcement and investing in public safety instead of Trump's ballroom," Rosen said in a statement.
- "Americans don't want a ballroom blitz," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "They want Congress to bring the cost down."