Senate Republicans want to provide U.S. Secret Service $1 billion for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the construction of President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom.
The use of public funds would be limited to building “above-ground and below-ground security elements” only, according to the text of a reconciliation package released by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It also includes $30.7 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $3.5 billion for Customs and Border Protection.
“Republicans won’t allow our country to be dragged backwards by Democrats’ radical, anti-law enforcement agenda,” Grassley said in a statement Monday. “The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking action to help provide certainty for federal law enforcement and safer streets for American families. We will work to ensure this critical funding gets signed into law without unnecessary delay.”
The committee is expected to mark up the bill next week before sending it to the full chamber, where it will likely pass via a simple-majority vote.
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The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted that construction of a new 90,000 square foot White House ballroom, which is to occupy the space of the former East Wing building that was demolished by Trump last year, would be financed by private donations and not cost taxpayers money. It is estimated to cost $400 million.
“It’s not going to cost taxpayers a dime,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last year.
The plans for the new “East Wing Modernization Project” include offices, a theater and military infrastructure, including a new underground bunker. A federal appeals court has allowed construction to proceed while legal challenges continue.
“The military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed,” Trump told reporters in March, adding that the ballroom “essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under.”
The text of the reconciliation bill does include a limitation on the use of the $1 billion: “None of the funds made available under this section may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project.”
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