Parliamentarian rejects – Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said a GOP budget bill provision seeking $1 billion for Secret Service support tied to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom would need to be rewritten because it improperly funds activities outside the Judic
When Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough looked at a GOP budget bill provision aimed at funding President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom, she told senators it could not move forward as written.
In a message to Senate offices Saturday. MacDonough said the budget bill—seeking $1 billion for the Secret Service to help finance the ballroom. alongside funding for ICE and Border Patrol—needs to be rewritten due to jurisdictional problems.. She said the ballroom plan is “as complex and large in scale” as it is proposed. involving coordination across agencies that fall under the jurisdiction of multiple Senate committees.. “As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee,” MacDonough wrote.
The decision also places the provision under a stricter path to passage than similar efforts that use budget reconciliation.. MacDonough said the bill would be subject to a 60-vote threshold. meaning it could not advance on a simple majority. unlike measures that can move through reconciliation.. The difference matters because reconciliation is often used to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster barrier. though it comes with limits on what provisions can be included.
The ruling landed as Senate Republicans were already trying to reshape the ballroom language.. A GOP leadership aide said Republicans had been redrafting the provision’s language before MacDonough’s Saturday determination. using feedback from Senate officials.. A spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans said “conversations and revisions are continuing. as they have been for days.” Even so. it remains unclear whether the changes can fully cure the jurisdictional defect.
A key constraint is where language can originate.. The budget resolution permits language to start only from the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.. If officials again conclude that the ballroom project falls under another committee’s jurisdiction. Republicans may have to leave the funding out—an outcome made more likely by the difficulty of finding the 60 votes needed to overrule the parliamentarian.
Democrats framed the setback as proof that the bill should not be allowed to proceed with ballroom money.. Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley. D-Ore.. said in a statement Saturday that “the American people shouldn’t spend a single dime on Trump’s gold-plated ballroom boondoggle.” He said Democrats expect Republicans to change the bill “to appease Trump. ” but that “Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill.” Merkley added that Democrats “cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure” while ignoring what he called “the needs of the American people.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune spokesman Ryan Wrasse downplayed the impact, writing on X: “Redraft.. Refine.. Resubmit.. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process.” The “Byrd process” refers to an informal review led by the parliamentarian to ensure that budget reconciliation measures comply with the Byrd Rule—so provisions are directly tied to federal spending and revenue without unrelated extras.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some Republicans had already shown unease about using $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for a project Trump has repeatedly promoted with an insistence that it would cost “no government funds.” Earlier this week. senators were shown a proposal outlining $220 million to harden the White House complex. $180 million for a visitors screening facility. $175 million for training. and another $175 million to enhance security for Secret Service protectees.. After reviewing the proposal, Sen.. Roger Marshall. R-Kan.. said. “I still got some more questions. and they’re going to send us more information. ” adding. “I’m undecided.”
Sen.. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen.. Susan Collins, R-Maine, both said the project should be carried out with private funds, consistent with Trump’s earlier promise.. Trump previously said the ballroom project would cost $400 million and be privately funded.. Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, is one of the corporate donors.
The White House has said the requested taxpayer funds would be earmarked for “security adjustments and upgrades” associated with the overall ballroom project.
MacDonough’s ruling ties the debate to the Senate’s procedural boundaries: the provision seeks a large-scale. multi-agency coordination tied to the ballroom. but she said it as drafted funds activity that falls outside the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction—meaning the path to inclusion depends on whether revisions can keep the language within the committees allowed to originate in the budget resolution.
For now, the ballroom funding is not dead, but it has been forced into a tighter political and procedural fight.. Republicans are working to rewrite and resubmit, while Democrats say they are ready to challenge any changes.. Whether the effort can be redrafted to satisfy the parliamentarian without losing the money remains the central question hanging over the bill’s next step.
U.S. Senate Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough budget bill Trump ballroom Secret Service budget reconciliation Byrd Rule Judiciary Committee jurisdictional issues ICE Border Patrol Jeff Merkley Lindsey Graham John Thune Rand Paul Susan Collins