U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media near the construction site of his proposed ballroom at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 19, 2026.
Kent Nishimura Afp | Getty Images
Senate Republicans on Wednesday stripped up to $1 billion in funding for President Donald Trump’s proposed White House and Secret Service playroom security in a revised immigration enforcement bill.
GOP leaders have privately concluded that the funding proposal risks derailing the broader immigration bill, politically and procedurally, according to multiple media reports.
The offer also raised political concerns among some Senate Republicans, who worried the funding could make the party appear ineffective as voters grapple with high costs ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Trump had personally forced lawmakers to approve funding for the controversial ballroom project and the Secret Service. Trump administration officials said the money was needed because of the alleged assassination attempt on Trump on April 25 at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton.
Administration officials said only about $200 million would go to the ballpark and the rest would support other Secret Service upgrades.
Wednesday’s revised bill from the Senate Judiciary Committee came after weeks of internal Republican debate over whether to keep the money requested in a broader reconciliation package that would send tens of billions of dollars to two agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection.
Republicans are trying to pass the measure through a process known as reconciliation, which allows budget-related legislation to clear the Senate with a simple majority instead of 60 votes.
There are only 53 Republican members, meaning the GOP majority needs 45 more Democrats and two independents negotiating with Democrats to vote for the reconciliation measure to pass.
In May, a member of the Senate decided that an earlier version of the bill that included funding for ballroom security could not be passed through reconciliation because it did not comply with the so-called Byrd Rule. That law prohibits provisions for bills that are deemed to be outside the organization’s expenses or outside the authority of the committees that write them.
If the ballroom provision had remained in the bill, Democrats would have challenged it and forced Republicans to meet the upper limit.
The White House pushed back Wednesday on the idea that Republicans would vote to repeal the provision, saying the language was removed because of a decision by Congress.
“Parliament’s decision was reported weeks ago,” said a White House spokesperson. “This draft is a lie as it implies that the Republicans removed it on purpose rather than under pressure from parliament.”
However, after the senator’s decision last month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., said the bill would be restructured to include funding and comply with the Byrd Act.
“We will try a new way,” Thune said at the time.
He mentioned that last year, it took five attempts for the Parliament to approve the tax and spending bill.
“You continue to find out, how do we address the concerns raised there, and how do we do that?” Thune said.
