Senate Republicans propose package including $1bn that could go to Trump ballroom

Senate Republicans have released a new immigration enforcement funding package that includes a proposed $1bn that could go to security measures related to the $400m ballroom that is part of Donald Trump’s “East Wing modernization project”.Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who chairs the Senate judiciary committee, released the funding plan on Monday, as part of a wider bill the Republican Party plans to pass along party lines to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other agencies involved in the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.While the measure does not explicitly mention the president’s proposed new ballroom, it proposes that $1bn be appropriated for “the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features”.“None of the funds made available under this section may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project,” it adds.The “East Wing modernization project” is the name of the Trump administration’s plan to rebuild the East Wing, which was demolished last year to make space for the ballroom.In a statement accompanying the release of the proposed funding package, Grassley said: “The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking action to help provide certainty for federal law enforcement and safer streets for American families” adding that “we will work to ensure this critical funding gets signed into law without unnecessary delay”.A spokesperson for Grassley said on Tuesday that “this bill does not fund ballroom construction”, adding that “it provides funds for Secret Service enhancements, including, but not limited to security enhancements related to the East Wing Modernization Project. This necessary funding will ensure all presidents, their families and their staffs are adequately protected.“The United States Secret Service is responsible for securing the White House Compound, as well as deciding how the compound must be secured given the current threat environment,” they added. “After three attempted assassinations against the current president, it’s clearer than ever that investing in Secret Service is essential.”The new proposal comes after an armed man attempted to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April. In response, Trump and his allies have argued for enhanced security measures and the need for the new ballroom.A White House spokesperson praised the Republican-led spending proposal in a statement to the Guardian saying: “Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds.“Due in part to the recent assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the proposal would provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS,” the White House spokesperson said.The White House has said that the ballroom’s construction, which is currently being challenged in court, would be funded by private donors and large corporations, among them Meta, Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Palantir, Google and Comcast.Senate Democrats on Tuesday criticized the $1bn proposal. Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois who is a ranking member of the Senate judiciary committee, said in a statement that “while Americans are struggling to make ends meet as a result of President Trump’s failed policies, Republicans are focused on providing tens of billions of dollars for the President’s vanity ballroom project and cruel mass deportation campaign”.“Republicans are in danger of losing control of Congress in November, so they are going outside the usual bipartisan appropriations process to fund these unpopular policies through the end of the Trump Administration,” he said, adding that: “Judiciary Committee Democrats will fight this misguided partisan effort, which will do nothing to help Americans deal with rising prices for gas, food, housing, and health care.”Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat of Hawaii, also reacted to the proposal on social media, writing: “just flagging that now everyone gets an up or down vote on the ballroom!”