Posted on 05/11/2026 5:01:01 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is rallying fellow Democrats in a new “Dear Colleague” letter for a battle royale on the Senate floor over $1 billion in proposed funding for President Trump’s 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom that’s tucked into a $72 billion Republican-drafted budget reconciliation package.
Schumer is planning to turn the Senate floor debate and marathon voting session on the reconciliation bill into a referendum on lowering costs and scrapping the earmark for the ballroom.
“At a time when Americans can’t make ends meet, Republicans say ‘Let them eat cake’ — and then hand Trump a billion dollars to build a ballroom to serve it in,” Schumer wrote in his letter to Senate Democrats on Sunday.
“Americans do not need a ballroom. They need relief. They want their Congress and their President to address the growing cost crisis bearing down on families across the country,” he wrote.
The Republican bill, which was drafted by the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029 — circumventing the Democratic blockade of funding for those two agencies spurred by the fatal shooting of two anti-ICE protesters in Minneapolis.
The bill also provides $1.46 billion for the Department of Justice’s national security division, Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
And it provides $1 billion to support security enhancements to Trump’s ballroom project.
Critics say much of the security money could be used for the construction of the ballroom itself even though the bill bars the funding from being used for non-security elements.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
My guess is Chucky is misstating the budget, however I don't put it past the stupid party engaging in self sabotage.
Good. This is a clearly compromised administration that shouldn’t be building major military/intel infrastructure in the WH.
The Ballroom will be privately funded.
It’s the Bunker underneath the Ballroom
that needs the funding.
The old contactor “make a bid, start demolition and then raise the price after it’s too late” trick. There hasn’t been some new security increase for the White House itself (all assassination attempts have been off site), so any security costs should have been in the he original price.
Couldn’t figure out why suddenly funding was being sought for something being privately funded.
Perhaps it’s so a claim of Congressional Approval can be made to end any litigation. Maybe.
But the cynic in me says that someone in Congress had an epiphany. “Wait, something is being built in DC and we aren’t having a chance to ram it through with tons of pork stacked on it?!?! We can’t have that! Quick, cue the corruption and let’s get our cronies paid!!”
“This is a clearly compromised administration that shouldn’t be building....”
So you’re in agreement with Schumer on this. What else are you and Schumer in agreement on?
I suppose it would be better to have events outside in the mud with porto-potties. A dignified Whitehouse deserves a dignified ballroom. Imho.
This is probably the President of the USA who NEEDS the most protection. The LIBs/DIMs have attempted to murder him several times.
I wish that you would’ve remained a lurker.
CC
“compromised “
Define “compromised”.
You are just a very stupid and egregiously ignorant poster
Schumer taking a stand against a government project to spend more government money reminds me of the quote “ We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!”.
First of all there is no such $1 billion dollars that is devoted to the ballroom. Stop listening to the leftist media much less Chuck schumer.
The federal government is going to have to start paying for the security and other costs of the ballroom once it’s been constructed and this bill allows some unspecified amount of money to be directed towards the Secret Services activities associated with the ballroom.
Maybe you think someone else should pay the light and heat bill for the rest of time as well.
It’s not Trump’s Ballroom but their stupid supporters believe it is or will when the democrats finish ,LOL
Instead of posting your own stupid ideas why don’t you actually learn what’s happening? This bill permits some unspecified amount of money to be devoted to the security provided by the Secret Service in the ballroom.
No the 1 billion is to renovate the bunker which is below the east wing.
It’s so Deep State can get its hooks knto the project.
no stand on zippys basketball playground though
And you shouldn’t rely on the information/propaganda That the Hill puts out for Schumer and the Democrats. Simple minds fall for it every single time.
This
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.