{"id":67403,"date":"2026-05-12T07:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/67403\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T07:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:39:08","slug":"senate-republicans-weigh-whether-to-swallow-trumps-1b-push-for-ballroom-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/67403\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Republicans weigh whether to swallow Trump\u2019s $1B push for ballroom security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Key Senate Republicans are signaling a willingness to support up to $1 billion in security upgrades for President Donald Trump\u2019s ballroom<\/a> renovation project, despite Democratic attacks, as the White House ramps up its lobbying push.<\/p>\n

But the vote could put some of the Senate\u2019s moderates in a politically difficult position, especially after the president said his ballroom would be funded through private donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there have been three or four attempts on the president\u2019s life, and that\u2019s extremely serious, and we\u2019re in a heightened era of political violence, but the ballroom itself should be paid for by private donations, as the president had indicated,\u201d Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said, adding she wanted clarity on what precisely the money would be going toward.<\/p>\n

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune projected confidence Monday that congressional Republicans will back the $1 billion in funding, arguing that the money will be focused on other Secret Service projects beyond the ballroom itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s to secure the building \u2014 and not just the ballroom. I think the entire East Wing, which is something the Secret Service is tasked with protecting when the president is using it,\u201d Thune told reporters. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty clear it\u2019s a tool to keep the president safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House will ratchet up its push for the funding Tuesday with the US Secret Service director expected to join lawmakers at the Senate GOP lunch.<\/p>\n

The issue is becoming the latest political flashpoint that Republicans must navigate as they attempt to get funding for federal immigration enforcement across the finish line on a party-line vote in Congress.<\/p>\n

The push for as much as $1 billion in ballroom security funding<\/a> \u2013 as part of a broader package that will include the immigration enforcement funding \u2013 was announced as lawmakers were away from Washington on a pre-scheduled recess and took some Republicans by surprise.<\/p>\n

Inside the party, some House and Senate Republicans were unhappy the money was included, multiple sources told CNN, expressing concern that putting any money toward East Wing renovations, even if for security, would not go over well with voters worried about their own cost of living and could adversely affect competitive GOP races across the country this fall.<\/p>\n

But other Republican senators have argued the project is essential and would benefit future Republican and Democratic presidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the [White House Correspondents\u2019 Association] dinner made the case for why we need a secure ballroom,\u201d Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis told CNN about her support for the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for all presidents now and in the future,\u201d North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said.<\/p>\n

Pressed on whether adding ballroom funding would endanger lawmakers\u2019 ability to ultimately pass the package, which also includes funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol, Thune argued that it \u201cfits nicely\u201d in the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it fits nicely within a package that is built around, you know, basically, public safety, whether it\u2019s at the border, on our \u2013 in our streets, in our neighborhoods, in our communities, and, in this case, it\u2019s protecting the president,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support it. I think it makes sense, and I think it\u2019s part of what it costs to protect the president of the United States in a very dangerous time, in a dangerous world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Republican leader said later that the Secret Service director was expected to give his party \u201ca comprehensive breakdown tomorrow\u201d on how the money would be spent.<\/p>\n

Yet multiple GOP senators said Monday evening \u2013 their first night back in Washington since the funding details were made public \u2013 that they were still awaiting more specifics from the administration before agreeing to put taxpayer dollars toward the renovation project.<\/p>\n

Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul made clear he thought the entire ballroom should be funded privately.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t what the president has asked. I mean, the president asked to be allowed to use private money, and I think we got to just stick with what he asked for,\u201d Paul said when pressed about whether he\u2019d support $1 billion for the project. \u201cMy preference is always no taxpayer money. And he can do it privately. That\u2019s my preference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Republicans are also concerned by the optics of a $1 billion price tag \u2014 up from the $400 million proposed last month in separate legislation from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and other Republicans for ballroom construction.<\/p>\n

Democrats, for their part, plan to aggressively challenge the funding, including pushing to exclude it under the parliamentary rules that govern what can be included in the overall package.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis staggering waste of taxpayer dollars has nothing, nothing to do with security and everything to do with Trump\u2019s ego,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in remarks from the Senate floor Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people are calling out for help, but these ballroom Republicans have a constituency of one: Donald Trump\u2019s ego. That is a disgrace. Democrats will use every tool in our arsenal to fight this bill,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Thom Tillis warned that Democrats will use the $1 billion in funding as a cudgel against Republicans in the midterms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m in the Democratic marketing department, I\u2019m probably thinking of a lot of ways I would use this on targeted senators that vote for it. Which is why I think \u2026 if I\u2019m able to get to a yes, we certainly shouldn\u2019t expect any members who are in any of these at-risk states to do it if they see the potential consequences,\u201d the retiring North Carolina Republican argued. \u201cI know how I would write the ad for doing this when we\u2019re having $4-plus gas prices, those sorts of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tillis did not rule out backing the ballroom funding himself, telling reporters, \u201cI got a lot of questions that got to be answered. You know, I\u2019m going to ask basic questions on it \u2014 we\u2019re supposed to get briefed this week. So stay tuned.\u201d<\/p>\n

The money included in the GOP bill is for \u201csecurity adjustments and upgrades\u201d to the East Wing, as part of Trump\u2019s \u201cmodernization project.\u201d The money is intended to \u201csupport enhancements\u201d by the Secret Service but the legislative text does not provide details<\/a> about what the funding will be used for, except that it could include both \u201cabove ground and below-ground security features.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans can still decide not to include the money. GOP leaders are aiming to move the broader package of immigration funding through its special filibuster-proof process later this month \u2014 and they may be forced to pull the funding altogether if moderates continue to complain.<\/p>\n

One Senate panel, the Judiciary Committee, was set to take an initial step toward approving its portion of the broader funding measure on Tuesday morning \u2013 which would include that ballroom money \u2013 but the meeting was postponed, the committee announced Monday evening. (The panel\u2019s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, told CNN Monday night that there were no legislative issues causing the delay.)<\/p>\n

Republicans need nearly every member of their conference on board for their immigration funding package to survive the byzantine process known as reconciliation, which will allow the Senate to pass the measure without Democratic votes.<\/p>\n

Paul, the Kentucky Republican in charge of the Senate\u2019s Homeland Security panel, suggested the Senate\u2019s parliamentarian may decide to just strip out the language: \u201cI think that\u2019s a possibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pressed on the issue, Thune wouldn\u2019t predict whether ballroom funding would survive the so-called Byrd bath, saying: \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s Morgan Rimmer and Ted Barrett contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key Senate Republicans are signaling a willingness to support up to $1 billion in security upgrades for President…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[5267,1331,1738,475,6114,932,1056,1735,2027,987],"class_list":{"0":"post-67403","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-john-thune","8":"tag-east-wing","9":"tag-gop","10":"tag-immigration-enforcement","11":"tag-john-thune","12":"tag-secret-service","13":"tag-security","14":"tag-senate-majority-leader","15":"tag-senate-republicans","16":"tag-the-senate","17":"tag-white-house"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116560472492525826","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}