GOP weighs scrubbing White House security funding from immigration bill over ballroom controversy

Published May 20, 2026 6:33pm ET



Senate Republicans were weighing on Wednesday whether to remove all or part of $1 billion for White House security funding from their $70 billion party-line immigration enforcement bill over concerns about President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-built East Wing ballroom.

The consideration comes amid GOP heartburn over the optics of providing taxpayer money for a project Trump has long promised would be funded through private donors. Over the weekend, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the provision would need to be rewritten to pass with only a simple majority under the so-called reconciliation process.  

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