Senate Republicans have officially abandoned efforts to fund President Donald Trump's ballroom at the White House. The fate of Trump's gilded dining hall is now in legal limbo, with no help expected from Capitol Hill. Money for the Secret Service and the "East Wing Modernization Project" was omitted from a new version of the Republicans' bill, announced Wednesday, which funds immigration enforcement operations at the Department of Homeland Security.
No Appetite for Ballroom Funding
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) indicated there is little appetite for reviving the ballroom funding. "It's not in here," Thune told HuffPost, referring to the new bill. "I suspect if there's something that people want to see get done there, they'd probably go through the appropriations process." However, there is little chance Trump will secure ballroom money through the appropriations process, which is the normal way Congress writes bills funding government agencies. Regular appropriations bills require 60 votes to clear the Senate, and Republicans control only 53 seats, meaning they would need at least seven Democrats to support a widely unpopular Trump vanity project.
Democrats Celebrate
"Thanks to the outrage of the American people and hard-fought challenges by Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans finally gave up on funding Trump's billionaire ballroom for now," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Wednesday. The ballroom funding had previously been included in an immigration bill going through a special "budget reconciliation" process that requires only 50 votes. The Senate parliamentarian ruled the provision could not stay in the bill under special budget rules. Republicans began reworking the provision but then gave up and left town amid a furor over Trump's $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund."
Slush Fund Declared Dead
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the slush fund is dead, prompting Senate Republicans to breathe a sigh of relief and return to their immigration bill — with no provisions addressing the slush fund, which some Republicans wanted, and no ballroom. A White House official said it is old news that ballroom funding is out and suggested Republicans had no choice but to obey the parliamentarian, whom Trump has repeatedly demanded they fire. "The parliamentarian's decision was reported weeks ago," the official said. "This framing is false as it implies that Republicans removed it deliberately rather than under parliamentary pressure."
Legal Battle Continues
Trump started the ballroom project last year with a surprise wholesale demolition of the entire East Wing of the White House. He did not ask Congress, which has appropriated money for past major upgrades, nor did he consult the commissions established to preserve historic architecture in the nation's capital. In March, a federal judge ruled that construction cannot continue unless Congress approves it, such as by appropriating funds, which likely explains why the ballroom money suddenly appeared in the previous immigration bill. The next hearing in the case is on Friday. Meanwhile, Trump has fumed from the sidelines, accusing the judge of jeopardizing security for all of America. "If anything happens, he will be held responsible for the Death and Destruction caused to our Country," Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
