Senate parliamentarian rejects $1 billion in reconciliation bill for White House security, Trump ballroom
The Senate parliamentarian rejected the last item in the Republicans' budget reconciliation bill — $1 billion in White House and Secret Service security funding tied in part to President Donald...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Senate parliamentarian rejected the last item in the Republicans' budget reconciliation bill — $1 billion in White House and Secret Service security funding tied in part to President Donald Trump ’s planned ballroom Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, considered nonpartisan since taking the role in 2012 during former President Barack Obama's administration, ruled the funding provision could not be included as written under budget reconciliation rules, an outcome long expected from both sides of the aisle. Ryan Wrasse, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune , R-S.D., said in a social media post that Republicans would keep trying to revise the legislation to try to gain the parliamentarian's approval. "Redraft. Refine. Resubmit," Wrasse wrote on X. "None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process." FURY ERUPTS AS UNELECTED SENATE 'SCOREKEEPER' BLOCKS TRUMP'S AGENDA The decision deals a blow to efforts to pass the money with a simple majority as part of a broader roughly $72 billion package focused largely on immigration enforcement after Democrats forced those budgetary items under the longest shutdowns in American history. MacDonough ruled that the security funding provision falls under chamber rules that require 60 votes to pass most legislation, according to the office of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the Senate Budget Committee ranking member. "While we expect Republicans to change this bill to appease Trump, Democrats are prepared to challenge any change to this bill," Merkley said. REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP'S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO 'DISCUSS' IDEA The parliamentarian interprets Senate rules, including whether legislative provisions are permitted. While MacDonough is nonpartisan by Senate standards, she served as former Vice President Al Gore's advisor in the Bush v. Gore 2000 election challenge that was resolved in the Supreme Court. Her ruling came days after several Senate Republicans questioned the Trump administr…