The weekend shooting at a press gala attended by President Trump is creating new headaches for House GOP leaders as they scramble to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ahead of a looming freeze on employee pay.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team were already laboring to adopt a budget blueprint this week to fund immigration enforcement in the face of internal pressure to pile a host of unrelated proposals — including tougher election rules — into the package.
Their efforts to unify the GOP conference have become even tougher in the wake of Saturday’s shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, as a number of Republicans are now clamoring for yet another provision to be attached: authorizing Trump to build his White House ballroom.
“Any consideration of DHS reconciliation instructions this week & beyond should provide for construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds — in addition to other concerns being addressed regarding ICE/CBP, SAVE America, Transgender & Abortion funding, Recon 3, & more,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), policy chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, wrote Sunday on the social platform X.
Any holdup caused by the new demands could have ripple effects on the two-step process Republicans hope to use to reopen DHS.
GOP leaders have insisted on passing a GOP-only bill that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol before taking up a bipartisan package to fund the rest of DHS, including the Secret Service. And any changes to the budget resolution that will serve as a blueprint for the GOP-only bill would have to go back to the Senate, which adopted its version after an all-night voting marathon last week.
Trump’s $400 million ballroom has generated a storm of controversy since the president demolished the East Wing of the White House late last year to make room for the addition. Trump and his supporters argue that the renovation — to include an underground bunker — is a matter of urgent necessity, both for hosting foreign dignitaries and for protecting top officials from external security threats.
But the project has drawn howls from Democrats and preservationists, who say it’s just another gilded trophy for an egotistical president — one funded by anonymous wealthy donors hoping to curry favor from Trump. The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has filed a lawsuit to halt construction. And a federal judge ruled last month that, despite the plan to fund the project through private donations, Trump still needs congressional approval to finalize it.
Trump, who was the target of two assassination attempts on the campaign trail in 2024, wasted no time using Saturday’s shooting to justify his push to complete the project quickly, telling reporters afterward that a White House ballroom would be “larger” and “much more secure.”
“It’s drone-proof. It’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military, are demanding it,” he said.
Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) has introduced a bill that would give Trump explicit statutory authority to build the ballroom. In an interview with The Hill on Monday, Fine welcomed the idea of attaching that proposal to a broader budget reconciliation bill.
“For 150 years, members of both parties have said the president needs a ballroom,” Fine said. “What we saw this weekend is a clear explanation as to why people should set aside their Trump derangement syndrome and get this thing done.”
The push by hard-line conservatives will likely only complicate matters for Johnson, who has been facing calls from some moderate members of his conference, as well as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), to keep the budget reconciliation bill “skinny” — that is, focused on DHS — to ensure it can move swiftly through both chambers.
The timing has real-world implications. While the administration has shuffled funding to pay DHS employees during the shutdown, those funds are expected to dry up in the first week of May if Congress doesn’t act beforehand.
Democrats, who oppose new funding for ICE and Border Patrol, are pushing Johnson to take up a Senate-passed bill that funds all of DHS except those two controversial subagencies.
On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) did not rule out supporting the White House ballroom. But he also bashed GOP leaders for prioritizing that project over efforts to bring down consumer costs, make health care more affordable and end the war with Iran.
“These are the things that we should actually be focused on, not a vanity project that resulted from the destruction — that was unauthorized — of the East Wing of the White House,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol.
Johnson’s bigger headache comes from within his own party. With a razor-thin majority, the Speaker can afford to lose only two GOP votes on any party-line bill, assuming that all members are present and Democrats are united in opposition.
The shooting has also intensified calls by conservatives to fully fund DHS through a single bill — blaming Democrats for the shutdown and arguing that splitting apart ICE and Border Patrol funding will only give the minority party leverage. They are calling for Senate Democrats to take up a House-passed measure to that effect.
“They can take up our bill and pass it today. That’s the fastest way to solve this problem. There’s a bill. It’s been there for months. Take it up and pass it. Stop protecting criminal illegal immigrants. Start protecting Americans,” Fine said.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) wrote on X: “Secret Service agents risked their lives to stop an attack on President Trump and senior members of our government this weekend. Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are holding their paychecks and the entire Department of Homeland Security HOSTAGE. The Senate must FULLY fund DHS immediately.”
Democrats have retorted that it’s House Republicans who are refusing to take up a Senate-passed bill that would fund the Secret Service, along with the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies.
Trump, in a Truth Social post on Monday, urged House Republicans to support the budget blueprint House GOP leaders plan to bring to the floor.
“House Republicans must UNIFY, and pass the same Blueprint to get the Bill done. I’ve asked for the final Bill on my desk by June 1st, and we can make that deadline if we keep to the plan, FAST and FOCUSED,” he wrote.
Roy, during a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday, said there was a “risk” to the two-step strategy, warning that if appropriations bills continue to be funded without including ICE and Border Patrol, and the reconciliation package funding is not in place, the two agencies could face a funding lapse in the fall of 2029.
“I remain torn about how to handle all of this. There are a number of things that I’m concerned about. A lot of presumptions being made about a third reconciliation package, issues we’re not addressing or dealing with that we need to address in another reconciliation package, but all built on a background of Democrats refusing to do the basic duty of government, which is to secure the United States,” Roy said.
Johnson told reporters on Monday that the Senate’s bipartisan bill has “some problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted,” and he added that he has a “modified version that I think is going to be much better for both chambers.”
“Doesn’t change most of the substance, but it makes sure that we’re not going to orphan two of the primary agencies of DHS. We have to make sure that immigration law is enforced and that the border is safe and secure. Democrats don’t want to have any part of that, so unfortunately, we have to do that on our own,” he said.
Coming out of a House GOP conference meeting Monday night, Roy said he doesn’t think ICE and Border Patrol funding should be separated.
“It’s not my fault that somebody chose to isolate DHS in February. Wasn’t my call. It’s not my fault that now we’ve burned three months messing around and not just actually moving a full DHS package, or at least moving TSA or something with Border Patrol and ICE,” Roy said.
“I understand the argument. ‘Chip, this is the only way to fund them.’ That’s not my fault. I didn’t set up this game,” he added.
Roy has been among the Republicans pushing to expand the reconciliation bill with additional reforms, but others have been wary about broadening its scope.
Asked whether he’d want more than ICE and Border Patrol funding in the bill, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said “no.”
“We just need to fund the necessary items and quit fighting,” Burchett said.
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said he expects the reconciliation process will take a “couple of weeks.”
“We can’t wait until June 1. That’s what I can tell you,” Arrington said.