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Overnight we learned Republicans may drop efforts to include money for the president’s ballroom from this bill, which was supposed to be *** simple measure to fund immigration enforcement through the end of the Trump administration. The White House had been pressuring Republicans to figure out *** way to include $1 billion for security at the White House and President Trump’s ballroom. Now in the last week, *** Senate official ruled the proposed money for the project was too broad and couldn’t be. Included in the bill in *** way that could pass with just Republican votes. Now, until yesterday, Republicans had been scrambling to revise it and make it work. Now some of the president’s biggest supporters stand with the proposal while others are questioning the cost. Well, I think what Republicans want is to secure the president and future presidents as well as this president, and I think we need some security upgrades at the White House. There’s no architectural plans. There is no environmentals. There’s no engineering. There’s no, uh, sense of when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly *** billion dollars. This ballroom is no gift to the American people. It’s *** congressional Republican personal gift to Donald J. Trump. The Senate’s hoping to pass the bill this week and send it to the House before *** weeklong Memorial Day recess on Capitol Hill. I’m Rachel Hirsheimer.
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Republicans may drop $1 billion proposal to fund White House ballroom from immigration bill
An immigration enforcement bill faces complications over proposed funding for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, with some lawmakers divided on its cost and feasibility.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are working to pass a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement, but proposed funding for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom is complicating the process. Early Thursday morning, it appeared Republicans might drop efforts to include $1 billion for security upgrades at the White House and the ballroom in the bill. The White House had been pressuring Republicans to find a way to include the funding, but Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled last week that the proposal was too broad and could not pass with only Republican votes. On Wednesday, Trump posted to social media calling for the firing of MacDonough. Until yesterday, Republicans had been scrambling to revise the proposal to make it work with the ballroom funding.The Senate hopes to pass the bill this week and send it to the House before leaving for a weeklong Memorial Day recess.Some of the president’s strongest supporters continue to back the funding, while others are raising concerns about its cost. “I think what Republicans want is to secure the president and future presidents as well as this president, and I think we need some security upgrades at the White House,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said. Sen. Bill Cassidy questioned the lack of specifics surrounding the proposal, saying, “There’s no architectural plans. There is no environmentals. There’s no engineering. There’s no sense of when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly a billion?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the proposal, saying, “This ballroom is no gift to the American people. It’s a congressional Republican personal gift to Donald J. Trump.” The original bill is a roughly $70 billion proposal to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. It would fund these agencies through the end of the Trump administration, creating roughly $70 billion in new debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republicans drafted the bill after talks with Democrats to place new guardrails on the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics failed.Republicans are pursuing the money through a special party-line process called reconciliation, where funding bills can pass both chambers of Congress with a simple majority rather than the traditional 60-vote threshold in the Senate. A separate bill became law after Republicans and Democrats voted to fund the remaining agencies of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS funding ran out in February, prompting the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:
Republicans on Capitol Hill are working to pass a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement, but proposed funding for President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom is complicating the process.
Early Thursday morning, it appeared Republicans might drop efforts to include $1 billion for security upgrades at the White House and the ballroom in the bill.
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The White House had been pressuring Republicans to find a way to include the funding, but Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled last week that the proposal was too broad and could not pass with only Republican votes. On Wednesday, Trump posted to social media calling for the firing of MacDonough.
Until yesterday, Republicans had been scrambling to revise the proposal to make it work with the ballroom funding.
The Senate hopes to pass the bill this week and send it to the House before leaving for a weeklong Memorial Day recess.
Some of the president’s strongest supporters continue to back the funding, while others are raising concerns about its cost.
“I think what Republicans want is to secure the president and future presidents as well as this president, and I think we need some security upgrades at the White House,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy questioned the lack of specifics surrounding the proposal, saying, “There’s no architectural plans. There is no environmentals. There’s no engineering. There’s no sense of when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly a billion?”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the proposal, saying, “This ballroom is no gift to the American people. It’s a congressional Republican personal gift to Donald J. Trump.”
The original bill is a roughly $70 billion proposal to restore funding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. It would fund these agencies through the end of the Trump administration, creating roughly $70 billion in new debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Republicans drafted the bill after talks with Democrats to place new guardrails on the Trump administration’s controversial immigration enforcement tactics failed.
Republicans are pursuing the money through a special party-line process called reconciliation, where funding bills can pass both chambers of Congress with a simple majority rather than the traditional 60-vote threshold in the Senate. A separate bill became law after Republicans and Democrats voted to fund the remaining agencies of the Department of Homeland Security. DHS funding ran out in February, prompting the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.
Keep watching for the latest from the Washington News Bureau:
