Senate Republican threatens to derail ICE, Border Patrol package over Trump's billion-dollar request
An internal dispute could derail Republicans’ goal of funding immigration operations for the remainder of President Donald Trump's presidency. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told his colleagues that he would not...
By Fox News · Fox News
An internal dispute could derail Republicans’ goal of funding immigration operations for the remainder of President Donald Trump's presidency. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told his colleagues that he would not support the GOP’s $72 billion reconciliation package if it included $1 billion in funding for Trump’s ballroom. His defection, along with a handful of other Republicans critical of the funding, could sink the bill. SENATE REPUBLICANS BALK AT $1B WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM REQUEST: ‘YOU MADE THAT NUMBER UP’ And given the GOP’s narrow margin in the upper chamber, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., can’t afford Republicans to break from the party line. Tillis’ opposition, which was first reported by Axios and confirmed by a source familiar to Fox News Digital, alone isn’t enough to torpedo the package meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years. But others, including Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., aren’t thrilled with the funding. Republicans were briefed by Secret Service Director Sean Curran last week on the funding, which included $220 million for "White House complex hardening." REPUBLICANS SLIP $1 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY FOR TRUMP BALLROOM SECURITY IN ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE That would fund "above and below ground" security enhancements for Trump’s ballroom, which the administration argued would "afford needed protection for the president, his family, and visitors, along with the below-ground, highest-level security functions," according to an itemized readout obtained by Fox News Digital. Those enhancements would include bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and detection systems and "a host of other national security functions." An additional $180 million would go toward a White House screening center for visitors. The remaining $600 million would go toward Secret Service training, enhanci…