The U.S. Senate has blocked funding for Trump's ballroom – Bloomberg
The Republicans' plan to allocate federal funds for the construction of U.S. President Donald Trump's new ballroom has temporarily hit a snag. The Senate has blocked the initiative from moving forward.
Bloomberg reported this on May 17.
According to the publication, the White House and Republicans wanted to include approximately $1 billion for security upgrades and the construction of a new East Wing—linked to the ballroom project—in a major budget bill that also addresses immigration and security issues.
Democrats stated that Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough concluded that the project’s costs did not comply with Senate budget rules. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said his party was able to block the Republicans’ first attempt to push through the funding.
“Republicans tried to make taxpayers foot the bill for Trump’s billion-dollar ballroom. Senate Democrats fought back—and thwarted their first attempt,” Schumer said.
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley also criticized the bill, calling it “a waste of money.” Despite procedural hurdles, Republicans have already announced they will attempt to rewrite the bill and resubmit it to the Senate. Ryan Vras, a spokesperson for Republican Majority Leader John Thune, stated that this practice is standard within the Senate’s budget process.
“Rewrite. Refine. Resubmit. Under the rules of the Byrd Amendment, this is not unusual,” he emphasized.
Democrats, however, stated that they would continue to fight against this bill.
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