U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters near the construction site for a planned banquet hall at the White House on May 19, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura | AFP | Getty Images
Senate Republicans on Wednesday stripped President Donald Trump’s proposed White House banquet hall and Secret Service security funding of up to $1 billion from the Immigration Enforcement Act.
According to multiple media reports, Republican leaders have privately concluded that the funding proposal risks derailing the broader immigration bill both politically and procedurally.
The provision also raised political concerns among some Senate Republicans, who worried that the funding would make the party appear to be drifting apart as voters struggle with high costs ahead of November’s midterm elections.
President Trump had personally lobbied lawmakers to approve funding for the controversial Ballroom project and the Secret Service. Trump administration officials argued that the funds were needed in light of an alleged assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 25 at the Washington Hilton.
Administration officials said only about $200 million was spent on the banquet hall, with the rest going toward other Secret Service upgrades.
The latest bill introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday comes after weeks of internal Republican debate over whether to keep requested funding in a broader settlement 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 bill through a process called “reconciliation,” which would allow budget bills to pass the Senate with a simple majority rather than 60 votes.
Because there are only 53 Republicans in the Senate, some of the 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with Democrats would need to vote in favor for the Republican majority to pass a reconciliation bill.
Senators ruled in May that an earlier version of the bill, which included funding for banquet hall security, could not be passed through reconciliation because it did not comply with the so-called Byrd Rule. The rule would prohibit provisions in a bill that are deemed unrelated to federal spending or outside the jurisdiction of the committee that drafted the bill.
If the ballroom provision had remained in the bill, Democrats would have challenged it and forced Republicans to meet a higher standard.
The White House on Wednesday pushed back against the idea that Republicans affirmatively chose to remove the provision, insisting that the language was removed by action by Congress.
“The members of Congress’ decision was announced several weeks ago,” a White House spokesperson said. “This framework is incorrect because it suggests that Republicans intentionally removed it rather than under pressure from Congress.”
But following Congress’ action last month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S., said he would amend the bill to include funding and comply with the Byrd Rule.
“We’re going to try a new approach,” Thun said at the time.
He noted that it took five attempts to get the tax and spending bill approved by lawmakers last year.
“You’re continuing to think about how do we address the concerns that are being raised there and what are the pathways to doing that,” Thun said.
