Senate Republicans’ plan to push forward a $1 billion legislative package to include Secret Service and ballroom funding could have some notable GOP holdouts due to concerns about costs and whether American taxpayers will foot the bill of something initially planned to be built with private dollars.
Efforts to push ballroom funding have a two-pronged approach. Almost immediately after the third assassination attempt against President Donald Trump occurred at last month’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, many Republican lawmakers and social media influencers messaged the importance of a ballroom to provide better security detail for the commander in chief and his Cabinet.
But beyond the security element is the cost. While Trump repeatedly said for weeks on end in public remarks that the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom would be fully funded by private entities, at a $300 million-$400 million price tag, recent legislation implies otherwise.
Military.com asked the White House about the dramatic shift in not just funding mechanisms but the overall cost of the ballroom itself.
“The ballroom will still be paid for with the private funds raised. The reconciliation package introduced was funds for DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] and USSS [U.S. Secret Service] to better secure the WH [White House] complex,” a White House spokesperson told Military.com.
Military.com also reached out to the USSS, inquiring how additional funding would directly help the Secret Service and whether it would translate into bigger security details around the president and his Cabinet. No response was received by press time.
Republican Worries Over Taxpayer Funding
Last week, the proposal—part of a broader $70 billion Senate package focused on immigration enforcement and law enforcement spending—was released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) argued Monday that funding would go beyond the ballroom project itself, subsidizing “the entire East Wing, which is something the Secret Service is tasked with protecting when the president is using it,” he told reporters, according to CNN.
Some Republicans expressing hesitance have pointed to the messaging behind the push, mainly how funds are coming from U.S. taxpayers rather than private entities.
Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis told CNN the most recent assassination attempt on Trump “made the case” for the project, while North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven added, “It’s for all presidents now and in the future.”
But others, like Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins, are separating the political violence from the fiscal perspective. Collins is anticipated to face a tough reelection bid in her home state against veteran and Democrat Graham Platner.
“Obviously, there have been three or four attempts on the president’s life, and that’s extremely serious, and we’re in a heightened era of political violence, but the ballroom itself should be paid for by private donations, as the president had indicated,” Collins said, per CNN.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said there are “a lot of questions” of whether the legislative package will advance in the chamber, adding that he’s up “for still doing it with private donations.” The ballroom money may be cut partially or entirely, he added.
“I think there’s a lot of questions,” Paul said, according to The Hill. “I think it will have to go through the Byrd bath and they’ll have to decide whether it can be in reconciliation,” he said, referencing the Senate rule of what can be added to a budget reconciliation package to avoid a filibuster.
Optics and Cost
Democrats on Capitol Hill continue to speak out against using taxpayer dollars to fund the ballroom.
“This staggering waste of taxpayer dollars has nothing, nothing to do with security and everything to do with Trump’s ego,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Monday on the Senate floor.
“The American people are calling out for help, but these ballroom Republicans have a constituency of one: Donald Trump’s ego. That is a disgrace. Democrats will use every tool in our arsenal to fight this bill,” he added.
Schumer, according to Punchbowl News, issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow senators on Monday reiterating his opposition to the proposal, saying in part, “Americans do not need a ballroom. They need relief.”
That could involve using the aforementioned Byrd Rule to put GOP senators on the record for funding approval, not just for the ballroom but for entities like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“That is what today’s Republicans have become: Ballroom Republicans—asking working families to pay the price while Donald Trump pockets the perks,” Schumer added.
Even Republicans like Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who is not running for reelection, alluded to the increased ballroom cost being tied to myriad congressional campaign attacks between now and the primary elections this fall.
“If I’m in the Democratic marketing department, I’m probably thinking of a lot of ways I would use this on targeted senators that vote for it,” Tillis said, according to CNN. “Which is why I think … if I’m able to get to a yes, we certainly shouldn’t expect any members who are in any of these at-risk states to do it if they see the potential consequences.”
“I know how I would write the ad for doing this when we’re having $4-plus gas prices, those sorts of things,” he added.
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