President Donald Trump’s ballroom project hit a procedural hurdle that may give Senate Republicans the cover they wanted.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled Saturday night that the GOP majority cannot include $1 billion for the proposed White House ballroom in their bill funding immigration enforcement under the strict rules for reconciliation bills, which could save them from a politically unpalatable vote, reported HuffPost.
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill,” said Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. “We cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure on a mission of chaos and corruption while turning a blind eye to the needs of the American people.”
Merkley announced the the decision in a press release because the parliamentarian doesn’t make public statements, but Republicans could potentially try to rewire the provision Trump wants to fund security measures for the ballroom before they vote on the bill next week.
“A project as complex and large in scale as Trump’s proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees,” Merkley said in his release.
The Oregon Democrat said the parliamentarian determined the ballroom provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee that authored the proposal.
The 79-year-old president ordered the demolition of the White House East Wing last year and promised the ballroom would be funded by private donations, but he later demanded $1 billion in taxpayer funding for security features, although the entire project is broadly opposed by the public.
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