White House security upgrades: Senate GOP adds $1 billion for Trump’s ballroom after assassination scare. Senate Republicans have added $1 billion to a bill that would pay for immigration enforcement agencies. This money would go toward making the White House safer. A man was charged with trying to kill President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last week, which is why the proposed boost is needed.
Fact Box – What You Need to Know
| Proposed funding | $1 billion for White House security upgrades |
| Trigger event | Alleged assassination attempt at WHCA dinner (April 25) |
| Included in | ICE and Border Patrol funding bill (Senate Republican version) |
| Opponents | Democrats, National Trust for Historic Preservation |
| Key quote (GOP) | “It would be insane” – Sen. Lindsey Graham |
The GOP bill that came out late Monday would give the U.S. Secret Service money for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to a ballroom project.
Since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly stormed the April 25 media dinner at the Washington Hilton with guns and knives, Trump and the Republicans have been pushing this project.
The law says that the money would be used to improve the ballroom project, adding security features both above and below ground. It also says that the money can’t be used for things that aren’t security-related.
Why does the White House need a billion dollars for a ballroom?
Davis Ingle, a spokesman for the White House, praised Republicans for including the money for what he called the “long overdue” project.
He said it would “give the United States Secret Service the tools they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex.”
Democrats have been blocking the money since mid-February. It is part of a larger bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol. On April 30, after the longest shutdown in history, Congress passed a bipartisan bill to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security.
But now Republicans are using a budget trick that only they can use to get the ICE and Border Patrol money through. The House hasn’t released its bill yet, but the Senate should start voting on its version next week.
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It’s not clear how the 1 billion will be used.The amount is much more than the proposed $1 billion.The amount is far more than the $400 million that was planned for building the ballroom itself.
In court documents, the White House said that the East Wing project would be “heavily fortified,” with bomb shelters, military bases, and a hospital under the ballroom.
President Trump has said that it should have bulletproof glass and be able to stop drone attacks. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has gone to court to stop the building, but a federal appeals court said last month that work can go on in the meantime.
The White House has said that private money would pay for the building and public money would pay for security. Some Republicans have said that the government should pay for everything, saying that the security breach at the dinner shows that the president needs a safe place to hold events.
GOP and Democrats are fighting over upgrades to White House security.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican, and Senator Katie Britt of Alabama introduced a bill to pay for the ballroom’s construction. Graham said, “It would be crazy” to have the dinner at a hotel again.
Democrats have said they will fight any attempts to pay for the ballroom.
Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of the U.S. Secret Service, spoke out against the move.
“Americans are having a hard time making ends meet because of President Trump’s failed policies. Meanwhile, Republicans are focused on giving the President tens of billions of dollars for his vanity ballroom project and cruel mass deportation campaign,” Durbin said.
The fight over the $1 billion for security upgrades at the White House is now in the Senate, where Republicans will need to keep their small majority together to pass the bill without any help from Democrats.
