U.S. Republican Senator John Kennedy said on Wednesday there was insufficient support in the Senate to spend $1 billion on a planned White House ballroom and related security measures, and that the proposal would not be included in a $72 billion immigration enforcement bill.
Speaking to reporters after leaving a meeting of Republican senators, Kennedy, of Louisiana, said: “We were told that the ballroom money is out.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that there were “a couple snags” that his 53 Republicans were trying to iron out. “I think there are issues related to the East Wing modernization project,” he said.
President Donald Trump has had the East Wing of the White House demolished, to be replaced by a 90,000-square-foot ballroom that he says could seat up to 1,000 people.
Trump originally said the project would involve no federal funding. But that has changed several times, culminating in congressional Republicans seeking $1 billion in taxpayer money for security enhancements.
While the controversy of spending federal money on what Democrats call a “gilded vanity project” for Trump has been the focus, the $72 billion for immigrant deportations has also roiled Congress.
