Republicans are moving ahead with their $72 billion partisan bill to fund immigration enforcement, but the package apparently won’t include a proposed $1 billion in Secret Service funding, including security money for President Trump’s ballroom project, after that request ran afoul of the Senate parliamentarian and was met with skepticism from lawmakers in both parties.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters after a meeting of GOP senators Wednesday that there was not enough support in the Senate to provide the $1 billion for the ballroom and related security needs. “We were told that, and again, I haven't looked at the text, but we're told that the ballroom money is out,” Kennedy said.
Trump lashes out: Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled over the weekend that the $1 billion provision failed to comply with the Senate rules governing the reconciliation process that Republicans are using to avoid a Democratic filibuster and be able to pass their bill via a simple majority vote.
Angered by MacDonough’s ruling, Trump reportedly pressed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire her earlier this week — and he lashed out at both Senate Republicans and the parliamentarian on Wednesday.
“Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats — So why has she not been replaced?” Trump wrote in a social media post. “There are many fair people who would be qualified for that vital job. The Republicans play a very soft game compared to the Dumocrats. It is their single biggest disadvantage in politics. The Dumocrats cheat, lie, and steal, especially when it comes to Votes in Elections, but stick together, whereas the Republicans allow the Elizabeth MacDonoughs of the World to stay in power, and brutalize us.”
Trump went on to again call on Republicans to eliminate the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, his plan to restrict voting, arguing that doing so “would give us everything!”
He concluded with another warning for his party: “Get smart and tough Republicans, or you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”
Pushing ahead with the rest of the package: As Republicans race to get the rest of their budget reconciliation package to Trump’s desk by his June 1 deadline, the Senate Budget Committee advanced the bill in a party-line vote, 11-10, setting up a possible floor vote as soon as this week.
The reconciliation package would provide $30.73 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and $22.57 billion for Customs and Border Protection, funding the agencies through 2029.
The reconciliation process involves a marathon series of amendment votes, known as a vote-a-rama. Those votes reportedly could start as soon as tonight. Democrats reportedly are expected to bring up an amendment targeting the new $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund created by the Justice Department as part of a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
The bottom line: The Senate’s decision to strip the ballroom funding is sure to infuriate the president. It comes just as Trump was celebrating a string of election wins that demonstrated his continued strength among Republican voters — and it highlights the growing trouble he might have in pushing his priorities through a narrowly divided Congress. That’s especially true now that a number of GOP lawmakers, worried about their re-election prospects or burned by the president’s retribution campaign, now feel less obligated to toe the line for Trump.