The administration’s proposal to add $1 billion for White House security and the future ballroom is reportedly expected to be dropped by Senate Republicans.
As lawmakers seek to restore funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol, Republicans are likely to drop their plan to add security funding for the White House that to the roughly $70 billion package, according to the Associated Press (AP). This came after some GOP lawmakers raised questions about the timing and cost of the request.
Some Republican lawmakers pushed back on the White House funding, questioning the optics of the request.
“[People] can’t afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we’re going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?” recently defeated Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said, according to the AP. Cassidy, one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Donald Trump in 2021, finished third in Saturday’s GOP primary, failing to make the runoff election.
Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told reporters that without White House security funding, the bill is “back to square one,” adding “the votes are not there,” the AP reported.
The funding fight comes after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled the White House security language violated the Byrd Rule, forcing Republican lawmakers to rework the provision if they wanted to pass the package along party lines. This rule prevents lawmakers from exploiting the budget reconciliation process to pass non-budgetary policies.
Trump later called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire MacDonough, though Thune has made clear he will not remove her despite having the power to do so.
The broader package is still expected to include funding for immigration enforcement, including money for ICE, Border Patrol and detention capacity, in an attempt to secure Trump’s agenda of mass deportations according to the AP.
The bill still needs to pass the Senate, where Republicans are using the reconciliation process to pass it with a simple majority.
The White House did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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