Senate Republicans demand answers on $1B Secret Service funding request

Senate Republicans are having a hard time digesting a dazzling funding request that would, in part, fund President Donald Trump’s ballroom security upgrades.

Republicans in the upper chamber still haven’t fully agreed to the $1 billion request included in the Trump administration and Secret Service’s immigration operations funding package, and many are wondering exactly how that figure was created.

“It was one thing for private dollars to build this,” said Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah. “If you’re asking me for a billion dollars, I have some really tough questions. If I were a businessman and an employee came in and said, ‘I have a project and it’s a billion dollars,’ I’d say, ‘You made that number up,’ right? So where did that number come from?”

REPUBLICANS, ONCE PRESENTED AS PRIVATELY FUNDED, ARE SECRETLY RECEIVING TAXPAYER MONEY FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM PROJECT.

Curtis’ skepticism came as Republicans went for a closed-door briefing at the request of Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who provided a high-level breakdown of the funding in a one-page document obtained by Fox News Digital.

Curran’s statement wasn’t enough for many Republicans who left the meeting wanting more details on exactly how the funding, which is part of a broader compromise package on immigration enforcement, would be used.

“They need to go back and give us more details about exactly how they arrived at that number,” Sen. Todd Young, R-Neb., said afterward.

Curran gave lawmakers a high-level breakdown of how the money would be spent; this included $220 million for “reinforcement of the White House complex.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATOR DEFENDS THE WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM AS A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., speaks to reporters as he arrives at the U.S. Capitol for the vote on Jan. 6, 2026. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

That category, like the legislation released last week by the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that the fund would fund “above and underground” security improvements for Trump’s ballroom; the administration argued that it would “meet the highest level of security functions underground, as well as necessary protection for the president, his family, and visitors.”

These improvements will include bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and detection systems, and “a host of other national security functions.”

An additional $180 million will go toward the White House screening center for visitors. The remaining $600 million will go to Secret Service training, increased protection for Trump and other officials and other security measures, including countering drones and other air strikes.

“What’s clear today is: ‘A billion dollars for a ballroom.’ The person who prints this, who prints something he knows, is a liar. That’s not true,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. “That’s not a billion dollars for the ballroom.”

Not all of the funding will go to just improving security at Trump’s massive ballroom, so Republicans want more answers on how every dollar will be used.

AFTER THE THIRD ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, THE DEBATE IS GROWING ABOUT THE NEED FOR A NEW INVESTIGATION INTO THE TRUMP ATTACK

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said he wants more answers about the Trump administration’s funding request. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

And they admit the price tag is a tough sell amid mounting economic problems across the country.

“When I look at it, I look at it like a businessman,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. “So this is an investment, and you need to explain to the American people that if you’re going to spend their money, how are you going to get a return on it?”

Scott, like many other Republicans, favors increased security for Trump and future presidents, who faced a third assassination attempt last month.

And there’s also the opportunity to reduce demand, which some Republicans have suggested could be an option as they try to finish work on the broader $72 billion package.

“We want to make sure that we’re responsible for taxpayer dollars and see what the best vehicle for that is and then make sure that we’re being judicious with that money,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital.

Meanwhile, the funding request is a small piece of a larger package that aims to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol over the next three and a half years through the budget reconciliation process.

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Whether ballroom security and Secret Service funding will actually remain in the package is an open question; Given that the entire package will be reviewed under the Senate’s strict Byrd Rule guidelines, which determine what can and cannot be included in the reconciliation process.

And Democrats plan to crack down on security funding, arguing the money would be better spent elsewhere on affordability issues.

“The bottom line is this ballroom is a disgrace,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DY. “Republicans know this. Let’s see if they have the guts to do what they think is both fundamentally and politically correct and tell Trump we don’t need a God, we don’t need a fucking ballroom.”