Senate Republicans are preparing to buck President Donald Trump on two of his long-running obsessions: the White House ballroom project and the “weaponization” of federal agencies against his allies.
It’s a risky gambit, taking on an emboldened president who’s busier settling scores against members of his own party than he is in taking on Democrats.
But Republican leaders are making clear they’d rather risk a Trump outburst than participate in what they see as a campaign of political self-sabotage.
That means scrapping plans to fund security for Trump’s controversial East Wing ballroom. Senate Republicans are also using the reconciliation bill to restrict Trump’s new $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate people who believe they were unfairly targeted by the feds.
Both are politically toxic for vulnerable Republicans in a midterm year defined by affordability issues and high costs.
In most cases, the only Republicans who are publicly speaking out against these initiatives are the victims of Trump’s revenge tour or otherwise not seeking reelection. But GOP leaders’ decisions on both the ballroom and weaponization fund make clear that they feel the same way.
“People are concerned about paying their mortgage or rent, affording groceries and paying for gas, not about putting together a $1.8 billion fund for the president and his allies to pay whomever they wish with no legal precedent or accountability,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who just lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger.
“Imagine that — a fund that is set up to compensate people who assaulted Capitol Police officers,” added Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who isn’t running for reelection. “How absurd does that sound coming out of my mouth?”
Republicans had hoped to use their $70 billion-plus ICE and Border Patrol reconciliation bill to highlight Democrats’ refusal to fund federal immigration operations. Instead, the effort is only serving to highlight the deep misalignment of priorities between Trump and GOP congressional leaders, who are struggling to save their majorities.
Get ready for a marathon. Senate Republican leaders are aiming to hold an initial procedural vote today and begin the vote-a-rama on the reconciliation tonight. But they haven’t even released the updated legislative text yet. Plus, Senate Majority Leader John Thune can’t move to kick off the floor process until he has 50 votes locked down.
There’s also 20 hours of debate equally divided between both parties, so Democrats could delay the start of the vote-a-rama if the first procedural vote occurs late enough in the day.
The ballroom funding, part of a proposed $1 billion for the Secret Service, was dropped from the bill because of insufficient GOP support. It also faced roadblocks from the Senate’s parliamentarian, who advised that there were jurisdictional issues in funding the project via reconciliation.
But it’s unclear how Republicans plan to impose eligibility restrictions on the “weaponization” fund. They’re especially concerned about potential taxpayer-funded payouts to Jan. 6 rioters convicted of violence against cops, as well as the overall political optics of the fund. This was a big discussion point at the Republicans’ lunch meeting on Wednesday.
Thune told us as he was leaving the Capitol on Wednesday that GOP senators want to place conditions on who’s eligible for fund payments, but he said it was “a work in progress.” Thune has said he doesn’t personally see a need for the fund.
As we scooped, Senate Republicans are weighing several strategies to make those changes, including adding a provision to the bill’s base text. Republicans could also craft an amendment for the vote-a-rama to counter a near-certain Democratic attempt to force a vote on their own proposal.
Vote-a-rama preview. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s strategy for the vote-a-rama is pretty simple. Schumer wants to use the unlimited vote series to argue that Republicans are focusing on immigration enforcement and Trump’s ballroom while neglecting the rising cost of living.
Senate Democrats are also considering a bunch of amendments on the “weaponization” fund, forcing votes to block it outright and to ban any payments to rioters who assaulted police officers on Jan. 6. As we noted, Republicans might try to get ahead of this with a proposal to give their vulnerable senators some political cover. Depending on how each is written, some could require 60 votes.
Even with the ballroom security money out of the bill, Democrats are likely to target it. There could be votes to block funds from going directly to the project and to stop the Trump administration from diverting other funding for the ballroom.
The prospect of Democratic amendments on the settlement fund and the ballroom have already spooked Senate Republicans. These could be very interesting votes.
The House. Once the bill comes over from the Senate, House GOP leaders will need several hours to get it through their chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson has to take the bill to the Rules Committee, where Democrats will offer several amendments. Republicans are certain to rule those amendments out of order.
Once the Rules Committee is done, House Republicans have to get the rule and the bill to the floor. Both are subject to debate and recorded votes.
But the real concern for both parties is attendance before a holiday weekend leading into a recess. If the House gets the bill on Friday, Republicans are worried about lawmakers not showing up. And there’s practically no chance that GOP leadership will be able to hold lawmakers here over the weekend.
“We just gotta stay to get our job done,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told us. “It would be nice if the Senate moved expeditiously.”
Note: Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will make an announcement at 11 a.m. from the Oval Office.
