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.”
