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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums🚨Republicans can give Trump a BILLION DOLLARS for his ballroom using the budget reconciliation process which can't be f
NOTE, that I am NOT agreeing with the post says about Fetterman.
I do not know what he will do with this bill.
Sanho Tree
@sanho.bsky.social
🚨Republicans can give Trump a BILLION DOLLARS for his ballroom using the budget reconciliation process which cant be filibustered and doesnt require a single Democratic vote in the Senate (though Im sure Fetterman will still betray the party). Make your calls.🚨
5 Calls
@5calls.org
· 3h
Remember last year's One Big Bullshit Bill? Republicans are now using that same 50-vote threshold budget reconciliation procedure to juice ICE and CBP with additional slush funding *and* fund Trump's ballroom.
Call your reps. 🔥📞🔥
Info, numbers, script @ 5calls.org
ð¨Republicans can give Trump a BILLION DOLLARS for his ballroom using the budget reconciliation process which canât be filibustered and doesnât require a single Democratic vote in the Senate (though Iâm sure Fetterman will still betray the party). Make your calls.ð¨
— Sanho Tree (@sanho.bsky.social) 2026-05-06T19:12:43.307Z
Lovie777
(23,502 posts)Norrrm
(5,435 posts)Wiz Imp
(10,317 posts)He already voted against the previous version of a spending bill which was not as bad as this one. That was like 2 weeks ago Paul and Murkowski also voted against that one I'm sure Paul will vote against this one too But 4 Republican votes are needed to kill it.
LetMyPeopleVote
(181,503 posts)The controversial vanity project was already unpopular. The GOPs planned use of public funds is poised to make matters worse.
When the latest polling showed 2-to-1 opposition to the WH ballroom project, the survey question emphasized private financing.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-05T12:57:58.925Z
Now congressional Republicans want to spend billion in taxpayer money on a 0 million project.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republicans-want-1-billion-taxpayer-money-trump-ballroom
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, [on Monday night] released his committees part of the long-term Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol funding bill, which includes $1 billion for security features related to the White House ballroom.
The funding could not be used for non-security elements, according to the legislative text.
To be sure, the proposal isnt just about the ballroom. On the contrary, Republicans are pushing a $72 billion reconciliation package that includes, among other things, more than $38 billion for ICE, roughly $26 billion for CBP and an additional $5 billion for DHS.
To the surprise of no one, the bill also ignores the reform measures Democrats began pushing after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota......
But its the $1 billion for security adjustments and upgrades to Trumps ballroom vanity project thats likely to be among the most controversial parts of the Republicans plan.
In case this isnt obvious, the White House boasted last summer that the price tag for the ballroom would be $200 million, and every penny would come from private donations. By October, the price tag had grown to $250 million. Soon after, it was $300 million. Late last year, it was up to $400 million though, again, the official line was that American taxpayers wouldnt be on the hook for the costs at all, even as the White House went out of its way to hide the identities of donors......
Put another way, congressional Republicans expect the public to pay $1 billion for a $400 million ballroom.
Well learn soon enough whether and to what extent the legislation changes in the coming days and weeks, but for now, GOP officials should probably keep in mind that polls show 2-to-1 opposition to the White House ballroom project, and thats when the survey question emphasized private financing. Watch this space.
LetMyPeopleVote
(181,503 posts)Senate Republicans maintain their proposal would authorize security construction, but not Trumps ballroom. The White House disagrees.
Link to tweet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/05/05/senate-budget-bill-trump-ballroom
The proposed legislative text says the money would be used for both aboveground and underground security features that the administration has declined to fully detail. The text explicitly says the money could not be used for non-security elements of the project, a reference to Trumps planned ballroom.....
White House officials said Tuesday that the legislation, if enacted, would authorize the entire project including the aboveground ballroom.
Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement, citing the high-profile incident last month when a gunman stormed through the security checkpoint outside the White House correspondents dinner. The proposal would provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS......
Trump has argued that the ballroom itself is a needed national security measure so he and future presidents can safely entertain VIP guests, a message increasingly echoed by his allies in Congress after last months incident. Justice Department officials last week asked Leon to dissolve his order blocking construction, citing the shooting at the correspondents dinner in a rambling legal filing that read like one of Trumps Truth Social posts.....
Democrats argued Tuesday that the proposal illustrates that Republicans are out of touch with voters needs, highlighting the broadly unpopular ballroom. Fifty-six percent of Americans oppose Trumps decision to tear down the White Houses East Wing to make way for his planned ballroom, funded by about $400 million in private donations, while 28 percent support the project, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted last month.
trump will use the $1 billion for the entire project including the aboveground ballroom. There will be no funding by private donations.