A GOP bill seeking $1 billion for the Secret Service to help fund President Donald Trump’s efforts. White House Ballroom is in danger as he faces resistance from a senior Senate official.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said Saturday that the budget bill, which aims to fund ICE and the Border Patrol alongside $1 billion to help fund the ballroomneeds to be rewritten to take jurisdictional issues into account.
“A project as complex and large-scale as Trump’s proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies that span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees,” MacDonough told Senate offices Saturday. “As written, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.”
The parliamentarian wrote that the bill would be subject to a 60-vote threshold for passage, meaning it could not pass with a simple majority, unlike similar bills advanced through budget reconciliation.
Budget reconciliation is a parliamentary tool used to circumvent the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, but it comes with restrictions on what provisions can be included.
The development is a blow to the Republican bill, but it’s not the end of efforts to include ballroom funding. Senate Republicans had already redrafted the provision’s language before Saturday’s decision, based on comments from Senate officials, a GOP leadership aide told NBC News.
A spokesperson for the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee also told NBC News that “conversations and reviews are continuing, as they have been for days.”
It’s unclear whether Republicans can rewrite the provision in a way that fully addresses lawmakers’ concerns. The budget resolution detailing what can be included in the bill only allows language coming from the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
If Senate officials again discover that the ballroom project falls under the purview of a committee other than these two committees, Republicans may be forced to leave that funding out of the bill because they likely won’t find the 60 votes needed to override the parliamentarian.
Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement Saturday that “the American people should not spend a single penny on Trump’s gold-plated mess.”
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any changes to this bill,” Merkley said. “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. »
Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, downplayed the setback to the GOP bill on Saturday.
“Refactor. Refine. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process,” Wrasse wrote in a post on X.
The “Byrd process” refers to an informal process in which the parliamentarian reviews budget reconciliation bills to ensure they comply with the Byrd rule. This rule ensures that the provisions of a budget reconciliation measure are directly related to federal spending and revenues, without unnecessary additions.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Senate Republicans had already expressed hesitation over the GOP’s plan to use $1 billion in taxpayer money to fund the ballroom project, the cost of which Trump had repeatedly touted. “no government funds.”
Republican senators were introduced a funding proposal earlier this weekwhich included $220 million to strengthen the White House complex, $180 million for a visitor control center, $175 million for training and another $175 million to boost security for Secret Service protectees, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.
“I still have more questions, and they’re going to send us more information,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said after the meeting. “I’m undecided.”
Sen. Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, and Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, both said the project should be done with private funds, as Trump initially promised.
Trump previously said the ballroom project would cost $400 million and be privately financed. Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, is one of the corporate donors.
The White House said the funds requested by taxpayers would be specifically earmarked for “security adjustments and improvements” associated with the overall ballroom project.