Senate Republicans Drop $1 Billion Trump Ballroom Fund as $46.5 Billion Immigration Bill Advances
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 3
Senate Republicans Drop $1 Billion Trump Ballroom Fund as $46.5 Billion Immigration Bill Advances
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 3
Summary
$1 billion for White House ballroom security was stripped from Senate Republicans’ reconciliation bill after party leaders concluded it could endanger long-term immigration enforcement funding.
The revised Secure America Act advanced 53-46 in committee and is expected to reach floor votes Thursday, with $13 billion for CBP, $31 billion for ICE and $2.5 billion for DHS.
The ballroom fight had become a political and procedural liability: Democrats threatened amendment votes ahead of the midterms, and the Senate parliamentarian ruled the funding violated reconciliation rules.
Republicans also dropped a separate nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund after internal objections, clearing obstacles that had already caused them to miss Trump’s June 1 deadline.
The push for multiyear funding follows a DHS partial shutdown and collapsed bipartisan talks after Democrats refused to back new ICE money without codified limits on federal agents’ tactics.