GOP weighs ditching White House security funding over ballroom
Senate Republicans were weighing on Wednesday whether to remove all or part of $1 billion for White House security funding from their $70 billion party-line immigration enforcement bill over concerns about President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-built East Wing ballroom.
TL;DR
- Senate Republicans are debating removing $1 billion in White House security funding from an immigration bill.
- Concerns stem from President Trump's under-construction East Wing ballroom, which was promised to be privately funded.
- Roughly $220 million of the proposed funds were specifically for security around the ballroom.
- Other allocations include visitor screening facilities, training, drone threats, and high-profile event security.
- The parliamentarian ruled the provision needed rewriting to pass with a simple majority.
- Republican leadership acknowledged challenges in securing the necessary 50 votes for the funding.
- Updated bill text had not been released, and voting was expected to be delayed.