Thune downplayed the setback from Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough as a normal part of reconciliation.

The push to secure federal dollars for President Donald Trump’s ballroom security just got more difficult on Capitol Hill.

A Republican plan to earmark federal funding for President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom hit at least a temporary roadblock Saturday in the US Senate.

Senate parliamentarian ruled a proposal to fund $1bn in security additions for the White House failed to meet procedural rules. Key US politics stories from Sunday 17 May 2026 at…

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said the GOP will refine its approach to seeking money for President Donald Trump's White House ballroom.

Thune downplayed the setback from Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough as a normal part of reconciliation.

MacDonough ruled over the weekend that the $1 billion in ballroom funding needs 60 votes, rather than a simple majority, to pass the Senate.

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough blocked an effort to include funding for Trump's White House ballroom in an appropriations bill.

Elizabeth MacDonough has served as the Senate’s nonpartisan rules expert since 2012 and has worked in the parliamentarian’s office for nearly three decades

President Donald Trump is calling for the firing of Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, for ruling against Republicans' plan to put $1 billion in taxpayer dollars toward…