Senate Republicans have inserted $1 billion for White House East Wing security enhancements in the immigration enforcement funding bill they hope to rush through Congress this month, setting up a political fight over a ballroom that President Trump has said would be financed with private money.<\/p>\n
The leaders of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees on Monday released plans for the roughly $70 billion package, which would significantly bolster spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol through the end of Mr. Trump\u2019s term using a party-line legislative process that can skirt a filibuster.<\/p>\n
A surprise addition to the measure was the $1 billion proposed by the Judiciary Committee for security work related to Mr. Trump\u2019s East Wing renovation. The measure does not mention the president\u2019s proposed new ballroom, which is being challenged in court, but Mr. Trump has insisted that a main reason for the project is to enhance security.<\/p>\n
While the president has previously insisted that the renovation would be funded through private donations, a spokesman on Tuesday said the White House applauded the proposed security funding for a \u201clong overdue\u201d project.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans have escalated their efforts to defend the project after the attempted assault late last month<\/a> at a journalism gala in Washington attended by the president.<\/p>\n The bill says the public money would be directed to \u201csecurity adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House compound to support enhancements by the Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.\u201d It also bars any of the funding being spent on \u201cnon-security elements.\u201d<\/p>\n But Democrats pounced on the proposal, signaling that they intended to make the ballroom a centerpiece of their opposition to the measure and their election-year message that the president and his party were not meeting voters\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n \u201cRepublicans are on a different planet than American families,\u201d Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader, said in a post on social media. \u201cRepublicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom.\u201d<\/p>\n Top Democrats also noted that consideration of the bill would put all senators on the record on a White House construction project that polls have shown to be unpopular.<\/p>\n \u201cJust flagging that now everyone gets an up or down vote on the ballroom,\u201d Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, said on social media.<\/p>\n Should the provision survive and be enacted into law, it could clear away legal obstacles to construction of the ballroom, which a federal judge has ruled<\/a> requires congressional approval.<\/p>\n