The White House is increasing the pressure on skeptical Republicans who are questioning the $1 billion price tag for security funding related to the president’s ballroom renovation project.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran attended a private lunch meeting Tuesday afternoon with Senate Republicans, where he was pressed for details on which part of the funding would go to secure the ballroom and what would be used for other purposes, according to senators leaving the meeting. Curran argued the funding would bolster security for the whole East Wing complex and other protective measures, not just the ballroom.
That would include $220 million for “hardening” the ballroom both above and below ground, including bulletproof glass and drone and chemical detection systems, according to a handout given to senators. Another $180 million would be used for a new White House visitor screening facility, $175 million each for training Secret Service agents and enhancing “protectee security,” $150 million to counter “emerging threats” like biological weapons and airspace incursions, and $100 million for securing high-profile national events.
Some Republicans in both chambers have been privately raising concerns about the funding request just months before the midterm elections, as Americans complain about the economy and the war in Iran. Republicans can lose only a few votes in both chambers and still successfully pass the bill without Democratic support.
“I’m for having the ballroom paid for with private funds,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).
Asked how the funding would look amid high gas prices, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said: “Not good.”
Congressional Republicans have worked to distance the proposed funding from the controversial ballroom renovation itself. But the White House has argued that if Congress funds the security request, that would serve as legal authorization for the project, which a federal judge has said requires congressional approval.
Senate Republicans released a plan early last week to direct $1 billion to security measures in the East Wing modernization project, which includes President Donald Trump’s proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
It explicitly says the funding could not be used for “non-security” elements of the project.
Security for the ballroom would make up around 20 percent of the $1 billion funding request, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) told reporters Tuesday, adding that he believes the courts would allow the project to continue if Congress approves the funding.
“You’ve got a president who, there have been three attempted assassinations just in the last two years,” he said Monday. “Obviously, the money that’s in there is about securing that building. The Secret Service has a job: to defend and protect the president. And we need to make sure they have the tools to do it.”
Trump says the project will cost $400 million, up from an initial estimate of $200 million, which will be covered by private donations.
The $1 billion in security funding would be included in a reconciliation bill that congressional Republicans plan to use to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection for the rest of Trump’s term without Democrats’ help. The Department of Homeland Security went unfunded for more than 70 days this year amid a showdown between Republicans and Democrats over immigration enforcement tactics.
Lawmakers approved funding through the end of September for the rest of DHS – including for the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard and the Secret Service – with bipartisan support, leaving just the immigration agencies without new funding.
GOP leaders have stressed the need to keep the bill as narrow as possible to quickly pass it through both chambers, but the additional security funding was added after the assassination attempt at the White House correspondents’ dinner in late April sparked renewed calls from Republicans to build the ballroom.
The Senate parliamentarian is reviewing the legislation to ensure it complies with the Senate’s rules for reconciliation. Senate Democrats plan to argue that the provision breaks the rules and to hammer Republicans for supporting ballroom-related funding as Americans struggle with the cost of living.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) sent a letter to Senate Democrats on Monday outlining the strategy: “We will force vote after vote to make the choice unmistakable: will Republicans vote to help American families — to lower costs, to restore savage health care cuts, to roll back cost-spiking tariffs — or will they vote to fund Trump’s gaudy ballroom?”
Theodoric Meyer contributed to this report.
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