WASHINGTON (AP) — A proposal to fund $1 billion in security additions for the White House campus and the president’s new ballroom is facing growing opposition from Republicans ahead of an expected vote this week, even as President Donald Trump and the U.S. Secret Service push for the money. Republicans are revising the proposal after the Senate parliamentarian said Saturday that it did not meet the requirements to be included in legislation to fund immigration enforcement agencies. But even if they are able to appease their parliamentarian, support for the plan remains uncertain as several Republican senators have questioned the security funding — and as tensions between the White House and Senate have escalated in recent days. “In the end it’s going to come down to what we have the votes to pass,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday, suggesting that the support was still an open question. Thune said there were ongoing conversations within the Senate and the House and with the White House over what the legislation should look like and what can meet the parliamentarian’s standards.
Republicans face opposition from within the party Several GOP senators have said they are unlikely to support it if the bill contains the $1 billion price tag for White House security. People “can’t afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we’re going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?” asked Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost reelection in the GOP primary on Saturday after Trump endorsed one of his opponents. Cassidy said the proposal, which would pay for Secret Service training and a new visitor center at the White House along with security for Trump’s ballroom, is premature when there are still many questions about the project. The Trump administration hasn’t been able to provide Congress with engineering assessments, environmental evaluations or architectural work, he said.
