Construction cranes are seen, from the Washington Monument, on the site of the former East Wing of the White House on April 17, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s push to secure taxpayer-funded security upgrades tied to his proposed White House ballroom hit a roadblock after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a $1 billion Secret Service provision could not be included in a GOP immigration enforcement bill as drafted.
The Senate GOP vowed to find another way to get the funding included in the bill.
Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined Saturday that the provision, which included $220 million for security upgrades tied to the East Wing ballroom project, fell outside the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Budget reconciliation bills must comply with strict rules, including the Byrd Rule, which bars provisions deemed extraneous to federal spending or outside the jurisdiction of the committees that drafted them. It’s up to the parliamentarian to determine what fits and what doesn’t.
That means Republicans will have to rewrite the language if they want to keep it in the party-line budget reconciliation package. Using the reconciliation process bypasses the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, meaning that with a narrow majority, a party can clear budget-related legislation with a simple-majority vote.
“Redraft. Refine. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process,” Ryan Wrasse, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wrote on X, after the provision was struck down.
The provision is part of a broader Republican immigration enforcement package that would provide roughly $72 billion for border and immigration agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.
The White House and Senate Republicans have framed the $1 billion as Secret Service funding for security upgrades, not direct construction money for the ballroom.
A memo obtained by MS NOW breaking down the funding said $220 million would go toward the East Wing ballroom project, while the rest would pay for other Secret Service security measures. Trump has said the ballroom itself would be funded by private donors, not taxpayers.
The new push came after an April shooting attempt on Trump’s life at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, which Republicans have cited as evidence that additional security measures are needed. The dinner is hosted by the journalists’ group, not by the government.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the parliamentarian’s ruling.
The ruling adds another complication for Senate GOP leaders as they race to pass the broader immigration package as soon as this week and send it back to the House before a weeklong recess.
MacDonough has already ruled against several other pieces of the measure, forcing GOP leaders to revise multiple provisions as they try to keep the package on track.
A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats have argued that the security-related funding amounts to taxpayers helping finance the project.
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats would continue fighting the proposal “in the Byrd Bath, on the Senate floor with votes, and anywhere else Republicans try to raid Americans’ hard-earned money for Trump’s gilded palace.”
