A trio of Senate Republicans on Monday announced they will introduce legislation authorizing $400 million in federal funding to build President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom in the wake of a shooting incident that disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said they were introducing the bill to fund a project that is vital to national security.
“Many people I think originally saw it as a vanity project… I don’t see it that way,” Graham said at a press conference on Monday. “I’m convinced if there had been a presidential ballroom adjacent to the White House, the guy would have never gotten in.”
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was cut short on Saturday after an alleged gunman rushed into the hotel where the annual even was taking place, though he was stopped by Secret Service agents before accessing the room where Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other administration officials and members of Congress were gathered.
Trump in the wake of the incident immediately called for the construction of the ballroom as a more secure alternative to the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the event was held.
