UMVA has learned that a major showdown has unfolded in the US Senate, with the parliamentarian rejecting a key provision in the Republicans' budget reconciliation bill.
The provision in question: $1 billion in White House and Secret Service security funding tied to President Donald Trump's planned ballroom. The parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled that the funding provision couldn't be included as written under budget reconciliation rules, a decision that has sent shockwaves through Washington.
According to information obtained by UMVA, several Senate Republicans had expressed concerns about the funding request, questioning the need for such a large sum of taxpayer dollars to be spent on a project that Trump has said would be privately financed. 'It was one thing when private dollars were building it,' said Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah. 'If you're asking me for a billion dollars, I have some really hard questions.'
Despite the parliamentarian's ruling, Republicans are vowing to keep trying to revise the legislation to gain her approval. 'Redraft. Refine. Resubmit,' said Ryan Wrasse, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. The decision has dealt a significant blow to efforts to pass the money with a simple majority as part of a broader roughly $72 billion package focused largely on immigration enforcement.
The parliamentarian's ruling has also sparked a heated debate about the merits of the ballroom project, with Democrats arguing that it's a wasteful and tone-deaf use of taxpayer dollars. 'The bottom line is, this ballroom is a disgrace,' said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. 'The Republicans know it. Let's see if they have the guts to do what they know is right.'
The White House and GOP supporters have framed the funding as a national security matter, citing threats against Trump and the need to modernize protective infrastructure at the White House. But with the parliamentarian's ruling, it's clear that the ballroom project has become a major point of contention in the Senate, with no easy resolution in sight.
