After reviewing the $72 billion spending proposal, which now includes $1 billion for Secret Service-related upgrades to the new East Wing, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough concluded the ballroom project doesn’t belong in the massive spending package to fund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Blocked by Democrats and their filibuster, Senate Republicans are using budget reconciliation to veer around the filibuster and pass ICE funding with a simple majority vote in the chamber where Republicans have a narrow 53-47 majority.
Over the weekend, however, MacDonough advised the chamber’s leadership the $1 billion ballroom funding is subject to the 60-vote rule, and hence a Democrat filibuster, under Senate budget rules.
Describing the Senate’s budget fight on the “Washington Watch” program, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said the parliamentarian’s rules can be ignored and overruled by senators.
“If those in charge of the Senate don't like the parliamentarian's decision,” Emmer advised, “they can override the parliamentarian.”
Since that fact is well known, Emmer concluded, blaming the parliamentarian can be a convenient political “tool” when there is internal division among Republican senators.
The controversial ballroom project, announced by President Trump last summer, would likely qualify as a topic of debate and disagreement among Senate Republicans for its costs and ongoing controversy.
The blueprint for what is replacing the now-gone East Wing at the White House shows a new two-story structure and an underground bunker complex.
Rather than just a ballroom project, the first floor will include new offices and a new commercial-grade kitchen. The second floor will be the 22,000-square-foot White House State Ballroom.
Much of the $1 billion price tag involves the secretive underground facility, which is described as a multi-level bunker that includes bomb shelters, communications facility, and a medical facility.
Above ground, in the visible two-story East Wing structure, the Secret Service wants bulletproof glass, new air defenses to counter drones, and a modernized facility to screen White House visitors.
Long before Congress debated that $1 billion request, Trump stirred up controversy when he solicited private donors to pay for an addition to the taxpayer-owned White House. That initial cost, which began at $250 million, has doubled to $400 million.
The controversy over demolishing the East Wing also triggered a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. An appeals court lifted a lower-court injunction, allowing construction to proceed, but a hearing is scheduled for June 5 that could bring the construction to a halt.
After the parliamentarian announced her budget ruling over the weekend, Trump is reportedly urging Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire MacDonough.
“No,” Thune, when asked about firing her, told news website NOTUS.
“We’re going through a process that we go through every time we have a reconciliation bill and the people on both sides are mad at the parliamentarian. That’s been true," he said.
