Senate Republicans may use a niche procedural tool to push through $1 billion in Secret Service security upgrades, including funding tied to the completion of the White House ballroom construction project.
On Monday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released an immigration and border patrol funding bill that includes taxpayer funding for security enhancements. The legislation specifies funding for “security adjustments and upgrades,” including projects within the White House perimeter fence to support Secret Service enhancements tied to the East Wing Modernization Project.
President Trump, who previously said the ballroom would be privately funded through donors, defended the project’s rising cost on Truth Social.
“The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations,” Trump wrote. “The original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars.”
The proposal is part of a broader Republican-led $72 billion package to fund ICE, Border Patrol, and the Department of Homeland Security through the end of Trump’s term after Democrats shut down DHS over immigration enforcement. The plan includes $19 billion for border patrol personnel, $7.5 billion for ICE investigations, and about $31 billion for immigration enforcement, according to Reuters.
Republicans are expected to advance the measure through budget reconciliation, an obscure legislative process that would let them pass it with a simple majority and bypass a Democrat filibuster in the Senate. Reconciliation comes with the trade-off of being limited to provisions that directly affect federal spending or revenue — a test the $72 billion package, including its $1 billion in Secret Service upgrades, would need to satisfy.
The push comes amid heightened security concerns after multiple assassination attempts targeting Trump, including a recent incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. A White House spokesperson told NBC News that the funding would ensure the Secret Service has the resources required to “fully and completely harden the White House complex.”
The funding, which Republicans hope to pass before the midterms, would advance key priorities for the president as the party faces an increasing likelihood of losing at least one of its congressional majorities.
Democrats have already begun to push back on the package, especially on the inclusion of funding for the ballroom.
“Just flagging that now everyone gets an up or down vote on the ballroom!” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said on social media.
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