A $1 billion bill that would help fund security measures for the White House and President Donald Trump’s new ballroom is facing a major roadblock in the Senate — for now.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, a top official who interprets the upper chamber’s rules, has advised that the proposed funding legislation currently needs 60 votes to pass, as opposed to a simple majority, according to Senator Jeff Merkley, the Senate Budget Committee’s top Democrat.
But Republicans, who only hold 53 seats in the Senate, won’t be able to get break that 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Republicans are now in talks with the parliamentarian and are revising the legislation.
“Technical adjustments are a standard part of the budget reconciliation process,” Senate Judiciary Republicans said in a statement Saturday.
Merkley said American taxpayers “shouldn’t spend a single dime on Trump’s gold-plated ballroom boondoggle.”
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill,” Merkley said.
“We cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure on a mission of chaos and corruption while turning a blind eye to the needs of the American people,” he added.
Earlier this month, Secret Service Director Sean Curran told lawmakers that $220 million of the $1 billion bill would be used for security measures related to Trump’s ballroom, while the rest would go toward other projects, including Secret Service agent training and White House visitor screening, according to The Washington Post. Trump initially said the ballroom project would be privately funded.
The provision was included in a broader Republican spending package, including funding for Homeland Security.
But “a project as complex and large in scale as Trump’s proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees,” MacDonough told Senate offices Saturday.
“As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee,” she said.
Ryan Wrasse, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, wrote on X that”none of this is abnormal.”
He added that Republicans are planning to “Redraft. Refine. Resubmit.”
The White House has praised the provision, which it said will help fund necessary “security infrastructure upgrades.”
“The White House applauds Congress’s latest proposal in its reconciliation package which includes additional funding for security infrastructure upgrades in relation to the long overdue East Wing Modernization Project,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told NPR earlier this month.
“Due in part to the recent assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the proposal would provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex,” he added.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
