Senate Democrats Vow to Fight GOP's $70 Billion Deportation Bill as It Adds $1 Billion for Trump Ballroom
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 11
Senate Democrats Vow to Fight GOP's $70 Billion Deportation Bill as It Adds $1 Billion for Trump Ballroom
16 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 11
$70 billion in new funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection has become the latest Senate flashpoint, with Chuck Schumer pledging Democrats will use amendments and procedural challenges to resist the reconciliation bill.
$1 billion of that package is earmarked for Secret Service security tied to the White House “East Wing modernization project” — the ballroom Trump wants built on the former East Wing site.
Republicans can advance the measure with a simple Senate majority under reconciliation, and the Judiciary Committee is expected to take up Chuck Grassley’s resolution on Tuesday.
Trump says the ballroom itself will cost about $400 million and be paid for by private donors, but Democrats argue the federal security money would still subsidize his remaking of the executive mansion.
The fight follows a 75-day DHS funding impasse that ended only after Democrats agreed to reopen the department without new ICE and CBP money, which Republicans now aim to secure through 2029.
With a $1 billion security price tag, is the White House building a ballroom or a fortress?
The White House demolished its East Wing for a new bunker. What historical legacy was lost?