MacDonough Removes $1 Billion Ballroom Funding From Senate Ruling Ballroom Funding Bill
Elizabeth MacDonough removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400m White House ballroom from the senate ruling ballroom funding bill on Saturday. The ruling cuts into a proposed $1bn security add-on for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom.
MacDonough and the $72bn package
The Senate parliamentarian, who is Elizabeth MacDonough, made the ruling on the $72bn spending package. Senate Republicans had sought the $1bn for Secret Service security upgrades tied to the ballroom, while the chamber’s rules require 60 votes for most legislation even though Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
The removed money sat inside a larger package that Republicans want to advance on a party-line vote. MacDonough’s ruling leaves that effort without the ballroom-related security language unless lawmakers revise the bill in a way that wins her approval.
Schumer on taxpayers
Chuck Schumer said, “Republicans tried to make taxpayers foot the bill for Trump’s billion-dollar ballroom.” He added, “Senate Democrats fought back – and blew up their first attempt.”
Trump has said construction of the ballroom will be funded by private donors, and he wrote on social media that it would be “the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World”. Republicans have said the ballroom-related spending is needed to ensure presidential safety.
White House ballroom plan
The administration has said the ballroom will modernize infrastructure, bolster security and ease strain on the White House. Trump has said the ballroom will be completed around September 2028.
The White House’s East Wing was originally constructed in 1902 during Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, placing the ballroom fight inside a broader dispute over what changes belong on the campus and who should pay for them.
