The White House budget office released $351.6 million to the Secret Service on Friday for “White House Security Measures,” amid mounting criticism that taxpayer dollars may be tapped to help pay for President Donald Trump’s planned East Wing ballroom.
A database that tracks “apportionments” made by the Office of Management and Budget, which releases appropriated money to be spent, shows that two apportionments were made Friday for the Secret Service: $340.8 million in a procurement and construction account and $10.75 million in an operations and support account.
The funds came from a $1.17 billion appropriation for the Secret Service contained in last year’s reconciliation package. That law specifies that those funds “may only be used for” additional Secret Service resources, including personnel, training facilities, programming, technology, and performance, retention and signing bonuses for Secret Service agents.
The new apportionments effectively allow $351.6 million that had been apportioned for fiscal 2027 for vaguely defined purposes to be spent immediately for “White House Security Measures.”
It’s not clear whether the apportionment of the funds, as recorded in the openomb.org database, is meant to help pay for the East Wing project. The Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
