Senate Republicans balk at $1B White House ballroom request: ‘You made that number up’
Senate Republicans are having a hard time stomaching an eye-popping funding request that, in part, would fund security enhancements for President Donald Trump's ballroom.
Republicans in the upper chamber still aren’t completely on board with a $1 billion request from the Trump administration and Secret Service tucked into their immigration operations funding package, and many are wondering how exactly that figure was created.
"It was one thing when private dollars were building it," Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said. "If you're asking me for a billion dollars, I have some really hard questions. If I were a businessman and an employee came and said, ‘I have a project, and it's a billion dollars,’ I'd say, ‘You made that number up,’ right? Like, where did the number come from?"
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Curtis’ skepticism came as Republicans were headed for a closed-door briefing on the request from Secret Service Director Sean Curran, who provided a high-level breakdown of the funding in a one-pager obtained by Fox News Digital.
Curran’s explanation wasn’t enough for several Republicans, who left the meeting still wanting more detailed information on exactly how the funding, which is part of the broader reconciliation package meant for immigration enforcement, would be used.
"They need to go back and get us more details about exactly how they arrived at the figure," Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said afterward.
Curran presented lawmakers with a high-level breakdown of how the money would be spent, which included $220 million for "White House complex hardening."
TRUMP ADMIN DEFENDS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM AS NATIONAL SECURITY MATTER
That category, like the legislation released by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, dictated that the funding would fund "above and below ground" security enhancements for Trump’s ballroom, which the administration argued would "afford needed protection for the president, his family, and visitors, along with the below-ground, highest-level security functions."
Those enhancements would include bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and detection systems and "a host of other national security functions."
An additional $180 million would go toward a White House screening center for visitors. The remaining $600 million would go toward Secret Service training, enhancing protection for Trump and other officials, and other security measures including countering drones and other aerial incursions.
"What was clear today is this whole statement, ‘It's a billion dollars for a ballroom.’ Anyone who prints that is printing something they know is a lie. That's not true," Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. "It's not a billion dollars for the ballroom."
The entirety of the funding won’t be going exclusively to enhancing security for Trump’s colossal ballroom, so Republicans want more answers on how each dollar will be used.
And they acknowledge that the price tag is a hard sell to make in the midst of growing economic issues across the country.
"The way I look at it, I look at it like a business guy," Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. "So it's an investment, and it's gonna, you know, you have to explain to the American public, if you're gonna spend their money, how do you get a return?"
Scott, like several other Republicans, is in favor of boosting security for Trump, who faced a third assassination attempt last month, and future presidents.
And there is an opportunity to cut the request down, which some Republicans suggested could be an option as they sprint to finish work on the broader $72 billion package.
"We want to make sure we're being responsible with taxpayer dollars and see what is the best vehicle for that, and then making sure that we're judicious with that money," Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told Fox News Digital.
Meanwhile, the funding request is a small piece in a broader package meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years through the budget reconciliation process.
Whether the ballroom security and Secret Service funding actually stays in the package is an open question, given that the entire package will be reviewed under the Senate’s strict Byrd Rule guidelines that dictate what can and can’t make it into the reconciliation process.
And Democrats are planning to push hard against the security funding, arguing that the money would be better spent elsewhere on affordability issues.
"The bottom line is, this ballroom is a disgrace," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. "The Republicans know it. Let's see if they have the guts to do what they know is right, both substantively and politically, and tell Trump we don't need a God — we don't need a damn ballroom."