Trump ballroom security funding blocked by Senate parliamentarian
President Donald Trump’s effort to secure taxpayer-funded security improvements tied to his proposed White House ballroom has hit a roadblock after the Senate deputy He ruled that a $1 billion Secret Service provision could not be included in the GOP immigration enforcement bill as drafted.
But Senate Republicans are still trying to save the fund.
According to MS NOW, RS.D. “We’re going to try a new approach,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday. During debate on the Republican tax and spending bill last year, he noted that it took five tries to gain Senate parliamentary approval for one element of the measure.
“How do we address the concerns raised there and how do you continue to find a way to do that?” Thune said at the Capitol:
Deputy Elizabeth MacDonough It was ruled Saturday that the provision, which includes $220 million for security improvements tied to the East Wing ballroom project, falls outside the Justice Department’s authority. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Budget reconciliation bills must comply with strict rules. Byrd RuleProhibiting provisions deemed foreign to federal expenditures or beyond the jurisdiction of the committees that prepare them. It is the parliamentarian’s responsibility to determine what will comply and what will not.
That means Republicans will have to rewrite the language if they want it to remain in the party budget reconciliation package. Using the reconciliation process bypasses the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold; This means that a party with a narrow majority can approve budget-related legislation with a simple majority vote.
R.S.D. “Redraft. Review. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during the Byrd process,” said Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune. wrote to xafter the ruling was abolished.
The provision is part of a broader Republican immigration enforcement package that would provide nearly $72 billion for border and immigration agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
The White House and Senate Republicans framed the $1 billion as Secret Service funding for security improvements, not direct money for the ballroom’s construction.
A note obtained by MS NOW detailed the fund as follows: $220 million It will go to the East Wing ballroom project, while the rest will pay for the Secret Service’s other security measures. Trump said the ballroom would be funded by private donors, not taxpayers.
The new move follows the attempted shooting on Trump’s life in April. White House Correspondents’ Association dinnerRepublicans cited this as evidence that additional security measures were needed. The dinner is hosted by the journalists’ group, not the government.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the parliamentarian’s decision.
The decision adds another complication for Senate GOP leaders who are racing to pass the broader immigration package as soon as this week and send it back to the House before a week-long recess.
MacDonough ruled against many other provisions of the measure, forcing GOP leaders to revise multiple provisions as they try to keep the package on track.
a spokesperson Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats argued that the safety-related funding meant taxpayers were helping fund the project.
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to object to any changes to this bill,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DY) said Democrats will continue to fight the proposal “in Byrd Bath, with votes on the Senate floor, and wherever Republicans try to raid Americans’ hard-earned money for Trump’s gilded palace.”
