The Senate parliamentarian late on Saturday night ruled that the Republican proposal to approve $1 billion for the White House ballroom fails to comply with the Senate’s rules; Senate Republicans said they have a fix coming.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough advised that the Republican plan to provide $1 billion for President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom would be subject to a 60-vote threshold if it were to remain in the legislation as is.
Republicans are using budgetary reconciliation to fund the ballroom and the Border Patrol as well as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. Using reconciliation would allow the funding package to pass through the Senate with only Republican support.
However, there are strict rules by which the legislation must abide by to ensure it does not violate the Senate’s rules on reconciliation.
Democrats took this ruling as a victory, even though Republicans said they have a fix coming in.
“The American people shouldn’t spend a single dime on Trump’s gold-plated ballroom boondoggle. That’s why in a bill where Republicans are ignoring the needs of working America and instead attempting to funnel a billion dollars into Trump’s Louis XIV-style ballroom and throw tens of billions more at two lawless agencies, Democrats are fighting back,” Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley said in a statement.
“While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill. We cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure on a mission of chaos and corruption while turning a blind eye to the needs of the American people.”
Democrats argued that the ballroom funding provision funds projects outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.
Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), said, “Redraft. Refine. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process.”
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