All articles tagged with #white house ballroom
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche filed a court request to resume the White House ballroom’s 9,000-square-foot construction, arguing the weekend shooting near the White House underscores the need for a high-security facility; the project, privately financed, has faced congressional input hurdles and ongoing court reviews as security features are highlighted as essential to presidential operations.
Senate Republican leaders are expected to abandon a proposed $1 billion security package for the White House complex and Trump’s ballroom amid GOP backlash, hoping to attach the funding to a roughly $70 billion immigration-enforcement bill via reconciliation; Democrats oppose the timing and use of funds, and questions linger about the separate $1.776 billion settlement fund for Trump allies, while House Speaker Mike Johnson says the bill will pass in whatever form it takes as negotiations continue.
Host Jimmy Kimmel mocked Donald Trump’s White House ballroom push with a brutal new nickname—“Blob the Builder”—as Trump touts a security-heavy, six-story underground complex beneath the ballroom; the project’s price tag has ballooned to around $400 million, fueling questions about taxpayer funding and turning it into a focal point of controversy amid broader political scrutiny.
The Senate parliamentarian removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400 million White House ballroom from a large spending package, jeopardizing Republicans’ bid to secure taxpayer money for the project. Democrats opposed the allocation and may pressure revisions, while Republicans could try to resurface the funding in a future version of the bill, with passage expected on a party-line vote.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s forthcoming decision on whether a $1 billion Secret Service funding provision for the White House ballroom can stay in a budget-reconciliation bill is driving GOP strategy, with members weighing reductions and more detail due to political optics and Byrd-rule constraints. House Republicans, led by Mike Johnson, say they’ll push changes to the Senate’s housing bill despite White House and Senate pushback, while cross‑chamber talks continue on immigration enforcement, homeland provisions, and a crypto bill ahead of a June 1 deadline, as Trump presses for faster movement.
Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer condemn a GOP plan to spend $1 billion on the White House East Wing Modernization ballroom, a project Trump had said would be privately funded; costs have ballooned from around $200 million to $400 million, and the package ties the ballroom funding to immigration-enforcement funding, with Republicans pushing it through via reconciliation.
Trump and allies push a $400 million White House ballroom to centralize large events for security, arguing it would reduce the need to hold gatherings at private venues like the Washington Hilton after a shooting; critics say a White House–run venue would threaten the WHCA’s independence and could politicize journalism, and they note the plan bypasses Congress even as a DOJ letter hints the annual dinner could be held there once completed. Observers warn the move smacks of optics over process and doubt it would see broad use, while questions about funding and authorization persist.
Senate Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham, propose using $400 million in taxpayer funds to build a White House ballroom, arguing security needs after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting. Rand Paul and Lauren Boebert are pushing alternatives that minimize or avoid new public funds, while Democrats oppose funding from taxpayers. The White House supports the project as a secure facility, and a lawsuit by the National Trust to halt construction continues.
House Republicans remain divided over the Senate-passed DHS funding bill: Rep. Nick Langworthy urges an immediate floor vote, but Speaker Mike Johnson says the measure needs changes to avoid “orphaning” ICE/CBP funding and to align with a separate immigration-enforcement reconciliation. The debate is swirling around whether White House ballroom funding can be attached to the DHS package, a move conservatives favor but Democrats largely oppose, in the wake of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting that raised security concerns. Lawmakers are also weighing hearings and potential committees to examine security at events, all of which threatens to delay DHS funding and other GOP priorities in a tense, multi-track process.
Funding for the White House ballroom cannot be folded into the GOP’s party-line immigration enforcement reconciliation bill, according to three aides, threatening a roughly $400 million project and prompting fallback options like standalone legislation. Senate leadership is noncommittal and Democrats are unlikely to back the ballroom; a court has halted construction pending explicit authorization. The WHCD shooting has spurred security reviews and calls to tighten Secret Service protocols, with hearings and security overhauls anticipated.
An appeals court granted a stay allowing continued below-ground construction of a $400 million White House ballroom at the East Wing site while it weighs the legality of the project and a prior halt on above-ground work; the ruling does not decide merits, the work is privately funded by major donors, and a June 5 hearing is scheduled.
A federal judge pressed Justice Department lawyers to cite the legal authority for the Trump administration’s plan to demolish the White House East Wing and build a $400 million ballroom, as historic-preservation groups sue for oversight. The hearing raises whether Congress must authorize such a project, even as the administration cites funding and Interior Department gifts; design reviews by two federal commissions continue and construction remains planned for spring, with potential appeals to higher courts.
James McCrery—the Trump-era designer of the White House ballroom—was named to the Commission of Fine Arts to review the project he led, a detail disclosed in court filings tied to a National Trust for Historic Preservation lawsuit over the East Wing; the documents also show donor funds routed to the Executive Residence, which now manages the project, and lay out CFA and NCPC steps with a March review target and an April-or-later start for aboveground work.
A federal judge is inclined to deny a preservationist group's request to halt Trump's White House ballroom project, citing lack of evidence of irreparable harm, with a final decision expected soon. The case involves concerns over legal compliance and independent reviews, as construction proceeds amid ongoing legal and political debates.
Donald Trump has dismissed all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an agency responsible for reviewing design proposals for government projects, as he plans to build a new White House ballroom and an Arc de Trump in Washington, D.C., with new appointments expected to align with his policies.