US Senate blocks funding for Trump’s White House ballroom project

Washington: A US Senate official on Saturday removed security funding that could be used for President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom from a massive spending package, Democratic lawmakers said, imperilling Republican efforts to allocate taxpayer money to the controversial project. The decision by the Senate’s parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, deals a blow to Trump and his administration, which has sought funding for security purposes related to the ballroom. Trump has said construction of the ballroom would be funded by $400 million in private donations. However, Senate Republicans are seeking $1 billion in taxpayer funding for the Secret Service to support security upgrades linked to the ballroom and other structures to be built beneath it. Frivolous diversion or necessary modernisation? Democrats have criticised the ballroom as an expensive and frivolous diversion at a time when Americans face rising costs, including higher fuel prices. Trump, a real estate developer-turned-politician, has said on social media that it will be “the finest building of its kind anywhere in the world”. MacDonough ruled that the security funding provision falls under Senate rules requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation, according to the office of Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. Republicans hold a 53–47 majority in the Senate. The parliamentarian interprets Senate rules, including whether legislative provisions are permitted. Republican senators could still revise the legislation in an attempt to secure the parliamentarian’s approval. “While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change,” Merkley said in a statement. Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. If Republicans do not succeed, they may be unable to include ballroom-related funding in a $72 billion spending package they plan to bring to a vote on the Senate floor, with passage expected along party lines and Democrats opposed. The bulk of the legislation is focused on immigration enforcement. Republicans have been using complex budget rules to try to secure passage without Democratic support. Democrats have opposed funding for Trump’s signature immigration policies without reforms they have long sought, especially following separate incidents in Minnesota in January in which federal immigration agents killed US citizens. Republicans argue that federal funding for ballroom security is necessary to ensure presidential safety, citing an April incident in which an alleged gunman reportedly stormed a black-tie media gala in Washington that Trump attended. The administration has said the ballroom would modernise infrastructure, strengthen security and reduce pressure on the White House, which often relies on temporary outdoor structures for large events. Trump has said the ballroom could be completed around September 2028, near the end of his second term. Democrats, hoping to regain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, are highlighting Republican support for the ballroom to portray the party as disconnected from the cost-of-living concerns of Americans, particularly amid rising energy costs linked to the conflict with Iran that began in February. Trump last year ordered the demolition of the White House’s East Wing — originally constructed in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and expanded four decades later under Franklin D. Roosevelt — to make way for the ballroom. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organisation, filed a lawsuit challenging the project. It argued that neither the president nor the National Park Service, which manages the White House grounds, has the authority to demolish the historic structure or construct a major new facility without explicit congressional approval. A US appeals court in April allowed construction to continue after a judge overseeing the National Trust’s lawsuit had issued an order halting the project.