President Trump says press dinner shooting proves need for White House banquet hall
President Trump said the attack on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner highlighted the need to add a challenging ballroom to the White House.
U.S. Senate officials on May 16 removed security funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed White House banquet hall from a huge spending plan, jeopardizing Republican efforts to funnel taxpayer money to the controversial project, Democratic lawmakers said.
Sen. Elizabeth McDonough’s decision is a blow to President Trump and his administration, which had sought funding for ballroom-related security.
President Trump said the banquet hall would be funded by $400 million in private donations. But Senate Republicans are seeking $1 billion in taxpayer funds for the Secret Service to beef up security at the banquet hall and other structures being built beneath it.
Frivolous repurposing or necessary modernization?
Democrats have criticized the ballroom as an expensive and frivolous diversion by Mr. Trump as Americans face rising costs, including soaring fuel prices. Trump, a real estate developer turned politician, wrote on social media that it would be “the best building of its kind anywhere in the world.”
McDonough ruled that the security funding provisions fall under House rules that require 60 votes to pass most legislation, according to the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
Lawmakers interpret Senate rules, including whether legislative provisions are permissible. Republican senators still have a chance to amend the bill for Congressional approval.
“While we expect Republicans to make changes to this bill to appease Mr. Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any changes to this bill,” Merkley said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
If Republicans fail to pass it, it could prevent them from including the ballroom funding in the $72 billion spending package they plan to bring to the Senate floor for a vote, which is expected to pass on a party-line vote over Democratic opposition. The bulk of the bill is devoted to immigration.
Republicans have invoked complex budget rules to ensure passage without Democratic support. Democrats have opposed funding for President Trump’s signature immigration crackdown without the reforms they have called for since a federal immigration officer killed a U.S. citizen in a separate incident in Minnesota in January.
Republicans have argued that federal funds are needed for ballroom security to keep the president safe, citing an April incident in which a suspected gunman was accused of storming a black-tie media gala in Washington that Trump attended.
The administration said the ballroom would modernize infrastructure, strengthen security and ease the burden on the White House, which often relies on temporary outdoor structures to host large events. President Trump has said the banquet hall will be completed around September 2028, near the end of his second term.
Democrats hope to gain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections and are using Republican ballroom support to portray President Trump’s party as immune to concerns about Americans’ cost of living as energy costs rise due to the Iran war that Trump and Israel launched in February.
Last year, President Trump ordered the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, which was built in 1902 under President Theodore Roosevelt and expanded 40 years later under President Franklin Roosevelt, to be used as a banquet hall.
The nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit challenging the project, arguing that neither the president nor the National Park Service, which manages the White House grounds, has the authority to demolish historic buildings or build large new facilities without explicit Congressional approval.
In April, a U.S. appeals court allowed construction to continue after the judge in charge of the National Trust case ordered the project to be halted.
