The White House ballroom is one of President Trump's projects causing dissent among Capitol Hill Republicans.
By Sarah Ferris, Adam Cancryn, CNN
President Donald Trump remains the clear leader of the Republican Party. Yet his grip is weakening among Republicans on Capitol Hill who have grown frustrated by what they view as increasingly brazen decisions in his second term.
Republicans are still on track to muscle through a top party priority this week, delivering US$70 billion (NZ$12.1b) in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection funding. But even that measure had been at serious risk of collapse in recent weeks after Republicans revolted over Trump's insistence for a $1.8 billion settlement fund that critics say is intended to reward his political supporters.
While Senate GOP leaders successfully quashed much of that dissent, the days of bitter wrangling exposed cracks in Trump's base of support on Capitol Hill. There is now a growing chorus of Republicans - and not just the usual defectors - willing to defy him as they seek to rein in his pursuit of his agenda, ranging from such projects as the White House ballroom, and exacting political retribution on his enemies to his handling of the Iran war and other foreign policy issues.
