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<\/p>\nThe 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.<\/p>\n
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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 \u2014 including tougher election rules \u2014 into the package.<\/p>\n
Their efforts to unify the GOP conference have become even tougher in the wake of Saturday\u2019s shooting at the annual White House Correspondents\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny consideration of DHS reconciliation instructions this week & beyond should provide for construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds \u2014 in addition to other concerns being addressed regarding ICE\/CBP, SAVE America, Transgender & Abortion funding, Recon 3, & more,\u201d Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), policy chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, wrote Sunday on the\u00a0social platform X.<\/p>\n
Any holdup caused by the new demands could have ripple effects on the two-step process Republicans hope to use to reopen DHS.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s $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 \u2014 to include an underground bunker \u2014 is a matter of urgent necessity, both for hosting foreign dignitaries and for protecting top officials from external security threats.<\/p>\n
But the project has drawn howls from Democrats and preservationists, who say it\u2019s just another gilded trophy for an egotistical president \u2014 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\u00a0a federal judge ruled\u00a0last month that, despite the plan to fund the project through private donations, Trump still needs congressional approval to finalize it.<\/p>\n
Trump, who was the target of two assassination attempts on the campaign trail in 2024, wasted no time using Saturday\u2019s shooting to justify his push to complete the project quickly, telling reporters afterward that a White House ballroom would be \u201clarger\u201d and \u201cmuch more secure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s drone-proof. It\u2019s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That\u2019s why Secret Service, that\u2019s why the military, are demanding it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 150 years, members of both parties have said the president needs a ballroom,\u201d Fine said. \u201cWhat we saw this weekend is a clear explanation as to why people should set aside their Trump derangement syndrome and get this thing done.\u201d<\/p>\n
The push by hard-line conservatives will likely only complicate matters for Johnson, who\u00a0has been facing calls\u00a0from some moderate members of his conference, as well as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), to keep the budget reconciliation bill \u201cskinny\u201d \u2014 that is, focused on DHS \u2014 to ensure it can move swiftly through both chambers.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t act beforehand.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThese are the things that we should actually be focused on, not a vanity project that resulted from the destruction \u2014 that was unauthorized \u2014 of the East Wing of the White House,\u201d Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The shooting has also intensified calls by conservatives to fully fund DHS through a single bill \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can take up our bill and pass it today. That\u2019s the fastest way to solve this problem. There\u2019s a bill. It\u2019s been there for months. Take it up and pass it. Stop protecting criminal illegal immigrants. Start protecting Americans,\u201d Fine said.<\/p>\n
Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) wrote on X: \u201cSecret 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrats have retorted that it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHouse Republicans must UNIFY, and pass the same Blueprint to get the Bill done. I\u2019ve 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,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Roy, during a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday, said there was a \u201crisk\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remain torn about how to handle all of this. There are a number of things that I\u2019m concerned about. A lot of presumptions being made about a third reconciliation package, issues we\u2019re 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,\u201d Roy said.<\/p>\n
Johnson told reporters on Monday that the Senate\u2019s bipartisan bill has \u201csome problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted,\u201d and he added that he has a \u201cmodified version that I think is going to be much better for both chambers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t change most of the substance, but it makes sure that we\u2019re 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\u2019t want to have any part of that, so unfortunately, we have to do that on our own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Coming out of a House GOP conference meeting Monday night, Roy said he doesn\u2019t think ICE and Border Patrol funding should be separated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not my fault that somebody chose to isolate DHS in February. Wasn\u2019t my call. It\u2019s not my fault that now we\u2019ve 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,\u201d Roy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the argument. \u2018Chip,\u00a0this\u00a0is the only way to fund them.\u2019 That\u2019s not my fault. I didn\u2019t set up this game,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Roy has been among the Republicans pushing to expand the reconciliation bill with additional reforms, but others have been wary about broadening its scope.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he\u2019d want more than ICE and Border Patrol funding in the bill, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to fund the necessary items and quit fighting,\u201d Burchett said.<\/p>\n
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said he expects the reconciliation process will take a \u201ccouple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t wait until June 1. That\u2019s what I can tell you,\u201d Arrington said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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)….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n