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A member of the Senate rejected the last item in the Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill – $1 billion in White House and Secret Service security funding that is partially connected to President Donald Trump’s playroom.
Senator Elizabeth MacDonough, who has been considered a non-partisan person since she took office in 2012 during the administration of former President Barack Obama, ruled that the grant will not be included as written under the budget reconciliation rules, an outcome long expected by both parties.
Ryan Wrasse, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., wrote on social media that Republicans will continue to try to revise the law to try to get approval from Parliament.
“Redraft. Sort. Repost,” Wrasse wrote on X. “None of this is unusual during the Byrd process.”
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The decision is a blow to the majority’s efforts to pass the money as part of a $72 billion package focused on immigration enforcement after Democrats forced those budget items under the longest shutdown in American history.
MacDonough ruled that the security funding provision falls under chamber rules that require 60 votes to pass most legislation, according to the Sen.’s office. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to please Trump, Democrats are determined to challenge any change to this bill,” Merkley said.
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Senator Elizabeth MacDonough forced Senate Republicans to rewrite the $72 billion reconciliation bill in relation to $1 billion for White House security and ballroom support. (Getty Images/Reuters)
A member of parliament interprets the rules of the Senate, including whether provisions of the law are allowed. Although MacDonough disagreed with Senate standards, he served as counsel to Vice President Al Gore in the Bush v. Gore 2000 which was settled in the Supreme Court.
His decision came days after Senate Republicans questioned Trump’s $1 billion request, with some saying they needed more information before supporting taxpayer funding tied to a program Trump said would be privately funded.
“It was one thing when private dollars were created,” Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital before a closed-door meeting with Secret Service Director Sean Curran. “If you ask me for a billion dollars, I have some really tough questions.”
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President Donald Trump holds a White House ballroom offering at the Air Force One media scrum. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
Curtis added that if an employee brought him a billion-dollar project with little explanation, he would reply: “You did that number.”
The request includes $220 million for “strengthening the White House,” including security upgrades above and below the football field, according to one page obtained by Fox News Digital. Those improvements included bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and identification systems and other national security measures.
An additional $180 million has been proposed for a White House visitor screening center, and $600 million will go to Secret Service training, protecting Trump and other officials, anti-drone measures and other security needs after Trump avoided a third unprecedented assassination attempt last month.
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Republicans defending the proposal said Democrats and critics mislabeled the funding as direct funding for the ballroom.
“What was clear today was this whole statement, ‘It’s a billion dollar ballroom.’ Anyone who prints something they know is false,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. “It’s not a billion dollar ballroom.”
Still, some Republicans said the administration hasn’t fully explained how it arrived at the number. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said officials should provide “more details about how they arrived at this figure,” while Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said the administration will have to explain to taxpayers how they will get the money spent.
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White House and GOP supporters framed the funding as a national security issue, citing threats against Trump and the need to modernize the White House’s defense infrastructure. Officials said the ballroom would reduce reliance on outside temporary structures for major events while improving security for the president, his family and guests.
The ballroom project has faced opposition since Trump ordered the demolition of the White House’s East Wing last year to make way for a new facility. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued, arguing that the administration had no authority to demolish a historic building or build a major new facility without express congressional approval. An appeals court in April allowed construction to continue while the legal battle continued.
Trump has said the ballroom itself will be funded with $400 million in private donations and completed around September 2028, the end of his second term. The senator’s decision doesn’t kill the broader spending bill, but it complicates GOP efforts to keep White House security money in the pocket Republicans hope to cross party lines.
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Democrats have portrayed the project as overly political and unsound, arguing that Republicans are trying to direct taxpayer money to Trump’s signature construction projects while Americans face rising costs.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., called the ballroom “disgraceful” and said Republicans should reject the funding.
“The important thing is that this football room is a disgrace,” he said. “Republicans know that. Let’s see if they have the courage to do what they know is right, both deeply and politically, and tell Trump we don’t need God — we don’t need a big ballroom.”
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Notably, the ballroom will not be completed until 2028, the last year of Trump’s second, and last, constitutional presidency. Trump says it will work for both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Fox News’ Alex Miller and Reuters contributed to this report.
