Trump fumes – President Donald Trump vented private anger to Senate Majority Leader John Thune after the Senate parliamentarian blocked a filibuster-proof vote on new Secret Service funding tied to his East Wing renovation and ballroom, according to people familiar with the
When the Senate’s rules referee shut the door on a filibuster-proof vote, President Donald Trump didn’t just get frustrated—he brought that frustration directly to John Thune in a Monday call.
In that private conversation. Trump aired his displeasure with the Senate parliamentarian’s decision to block a vote on security money for his East Wing renovation and ballroom. multiple people familiar with the discussion said. The president is now leaning on the Senate to deliver $1 billion in new Secret Service funding. including $200 million linked to the demolition of the East Wing for the ballroom and other facilities. as part of a larger immigration enforcement funding bill.
If the funding clears, Trump’s allies say it would give Congress’ imprimatur to the long-stalled ballroom project—potentially helping restart construction above ground.
But on Saturday night, the Senate’s independent parliamentarian ruled that the money couldn’t advance under the strict rules of budget reconciliation, the procedure that allows major legislation to bypass the filibuster.
Republicans are now rewriting their plan. They are working on revised language to deliver new funding for the Secret Service, though it is not yet clear whether lawmakers will be allowed to directly finance security for Trump’s East Wing project, including the ballroom.
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said he was unsure whether specific funding for the East Wing would pass parliamentary muster, while adding, “there’s no doubt that the Secret Service needs some upgrades.”
A White House official, when asked to comment on the conversation between Trump and Thune, said: “We don’t comment on private conversations that may or may not have happened.”
The parliamentarian’s decisions have repeatedly frustrated both parties because budget reconciliation requires a direct budgetary effect rather than primarily affecting policy to qualify for protection from the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Fifty Republican senators could overrule such a ruling, but doing so would effectively be comparable to killing the filibuster.
During the Biden administration. the parliamentarian delivered a blow to Democrats by ruling against filibuster protections for efforts to raise the minimum wage and ease some immigration laws. Last year, she did the same to Republicans, striking firearms language and some Medicaid language from their party-line tax bill.
For Thune, the task now is both legal and political: write language that can pass, and gather votes. “That’s the calculus we have in front of us right now,” he said, describing the effort to both craft Secret Service funding that clears parliamentary hurdles and unite 50 of the GOP’s 53 senators.
On Monday, Thune acknowledged that pushback is expected. “I don’t think it should come as any surprise that there’s feedback,” he said. “You just kind of continue to figure out how we address the concerns that are raised there, and look at a pathway to do that.”
Donald Trump John Thune Senate parliamentarian budget reconciliation filibuster Secret Service funding East Wing renovation ballroom Chuck Grassley immigration enforcement funding bill