US Senate refuses to push through ICE funding amid row over Trump’s ballroom | US Senate
A bid to restore funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol has been derailed by controversy over Donald Trump’s controversial plans to create a $1 billion proposal for security measures tied to the White House ballroom and a $1.8 billion “anti-proliferation” fund.
Republican senators told reporters Thursday that the U.S. Senate will not pass $70 billion legislation before a June 1 deadline set by the President, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Memorial Day holiday.
This comes as members of Trump’s own party are pushing back against an attempt to include funding for the ballroom project in the immigration bill.
The plan has sparked intense concern among congressional Republicans who fear that diverting taxpayer dollars to Trump’s “East Wing modernization project” amid rising cost of living concerns across the United States would risk alienating voters ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Some Senate Republicans also expressed concerns about a plan announced Monday to create a $1.776 billion secret fund. slush fund — to pay compensation to Trump allies as part of a deal in which the president and his sons dropped a long-shot $10 billion lawsuit against the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
“I actually don’t see any legal precedent for this,” said Republican senator Bill Cassidy, who lost his primary on Saturday after his extraordinary intervention to ensure Trump’s impeachment. he told reporters earlier this week. “We are a nation of laws, you can’t just make everything up in one piece.”
Senate Democrats have vowed to oppose Trump’s ballroom funding and said they will push for “vote after vote” to force Republicans to publicly approve it.
Republican John Thune, the U.S. Senate majority leader, acknowledged there were “ongoing voting issues” with the broader bill early Wednesday as party leaders tried to gauge support.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday, the U.S. Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, accused Republicans of trying to “sneak” ballroom funding into the bill. “The Americans caught them red-handed and now they’re trying to drop that hot potato,” he said.
Trump, meanwhile, continued to claim that the ballroom funding proposal in question was for “national security,” including a drone port and bulletproof glass.
“If they want to spend money to secure the White House, I think it would be a very good expenditure,” the US president told reporters. Asked what would happen if Congress did not sign the funds, Trump replied: “The White House will not be a very safe place.”
The East Wing of the White House was reduced to rubble last year to make room for Trump’s gilded ballroom plan. Polls have shown that most Americans oppose the controversial project, which remains the subject of litigation in federal court.
“I can tell you, a building like this will never be built,” Trump told reporters at the construction site earlier this week. Addressing a number of corporate donors who provided the funds, he insisted: “This is a gift to the United States of America.”
Associated Press contributed reporting
