Republicans cut $1 billion from the budget for Trump's ballroom
Republicans in the U.S. Senate have officially rejected a proposal to allocate $1 billion for security measures for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom. This decision was made to avoid jeopardizing the approval of large-scale funding for a program to combat illegal immigration and deportations.
The updated bill, titled the “Safe America Act,” no longer contains any provisions regarding funding for the ballroom.
According to U.S. media reports, Republicans decided to abandon the controversial initiative due to the risk of political confrontation and a potential blockage of the broader spending package.
The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 53 to 46. The allocated funds are intended for federal agencies that will implement the Trump administration’s immigration policies over the next four years.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer harshly criticized the idea of using budget funds to finance a project related to the presidential residence.
The opposition prepared a series of amendments that could have forced Republicans to publicly justify the necessity of such spending on the eve of the election campaign.
Schumer called the rejection of funding for the ballroom a victory for Democrats in the fight against the inefficient use of taxpayer funds.
“Even without Trump’s billion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ballroom—which Democrats successfully killed off despite all the Republicans’ efforts—this bill is rotten to the core,” he said.
Procedural issues also played a significant role in the bill’s fate. The Senate parliamentarian concluded that funding for the ballroom did not comply with budget reconciliation rules, which complicated the bill’s passage through Congress.
In addition, the Trump administration faced criticism over other large-scale financial proposals, including the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to counter the proliferation of weapons.
The U.S. president had previously demanded that the final bill be ready by June 1, but due to internal disputes among Republicans and resistance from Democrats, this deadline could not be met.
Consequently, Republicans decided to sacrifice security funding for Trump’s ballroom in order to maintain support for a key bill aimed at tightening immigration policy and the deportation program.
This was reported by The Guardian.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the state reception hall, for which the historic East Wing of the White House was demolished, is expected to be completed in about a year and a half.
A group of Republican senators in the U.S. is proposing to allocate public funds for the construction of a ballroom in the White House. They justify the idea with security concerns and the ability to host large events directly on the grounds of the residence.
