Senate Republicans removed $1 billion in Secret Service security funding for the White House and President Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-built East Wing ballroom from the party’s immigration enforcement bill, according to new legislative text released Wednesday.
The move was in response to Republican opposition over the optics of taxpayers footing the $220 million bill for ballroom security and the Senate parliamentarian’s determination that the funding did not comply with rules of reconciliation, the filibuster-skirting process the party is using to bypass Democrats.
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The updated text, released by the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of a procedural vote Wednesday afternoon to advance the bill, also removed additional funding for the Justice Department.
The roughly $70 billion measure centers on funding federal immigration agencies and the Department of Homeland Security through 2029 after Democrats blocked money for the agencies in government funding legislation earlier this year to protest Trump’s deportation agenda. It is known as the SECURE America Act.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said the bill ensures DHS funding can no longer be “held hostage by Democrats’ radical leftist agenda.”
SENATE REPUBLICANS WANT ASSURANCE ANTI-WEAPONIZATION FUND IS DEAD FOR GOOD
“Democrats broke the appropriations process because they want to reopen the southern border, defund federal law enforcement and leave American communities vulnerable to violent criminals, potential terrorists, illicit drugs and deadly contraband,” Grassley said in a statement. “Republicans’ top priority is to provide for the public safety and security of American citizens.”
Republicans could advance to final passage as soon as Thursday, but not before a marathon amendment session and more possible changes to the bill that GOP senators say they require to support it, including language to block Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that the administration vows it is no longer pursuing.
