Johnson defends Trump ballroom as ‘a donation to the country’

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

Despite public condemnation from Democrats, House Republicans are confident that the $1 billion earmark for security upgrades to President Donald Trump’s ballroom will remain in their budget reconciliation bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Wednesday that congressional Republicans are “right on schedule” to pass the filibuster-proof bill – which also appropriates $70 billion in advance funding for federal immigration enforcement agencies – by June 1.

“We will fully fund both border security and immigration enforcement for the balance of President Trump’s term,” Johnson said. “Democrats are chomping at the bit to regain power and reopen our borders and allow violent criminal illegal aliens to continue to roam our streets… and we’re not going to let them do that. So we’re eager to quickly finish this reconciliation process and get this bill to the president’s desk.”

Democrats have accused Republicans of being “out of touch” for providing an extra $1 billion to the Secret Service, a sum that would ultimately pay for security upgrades in the White House ballroom, currently under construction.

“There’s a theme here: Republicans are ready to spend, spend, spend — just not on anything that makes life more affordable,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said in Wednesday news conference. “Republicans are turning their backs on the people they represent.”

Johnson, however, said Democrats’ comments were “a gross misstatement of what’s going on here in the bill.”

He argued that the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which took place in a ballroom of the Washington, D.C. Hilton hotel, proves the need for security at the White House venue.

“The Secret Service put in an urgent request for additional security measures. It’s not for the ballroom – it’s for security measures,” Johnson said. “And we’ve needed some of these security measures for a long time. And that’s what this is all about, so there’s a false narrative out there about it.”

The budget reconciliation bill specifies that “[n]one of the funds made available… may be used for non-security elements” of the project, referring to the construction of the ballroom itself.

“[I]t should be something that’s bipartisan. The ballroom is totally privately funded – the president has dedicated like $400 million for that project,” Johnson added. “And by the way, it’s going to be a donation to the country. You’re aware the ballroom will be there long after he leaves, and he’ll only get a few months of its use, so he’s doing it for the country.”

Though Johnson projected optimism that the $1 billion earmark would remain in the bill, it could still get stripped if the Senate parliamentarian finds it violates the Byrd Rule.

Some vulnerable Republican lawmakers have also expressed hesitancy to approve a controversial provision that Democrats say they fully intend to capitalize on as the midterm elections approach.