Senate Republicans may remove a White House ballroom complex funding request from a Department of Homeland Security funding bill after questions about timing and limited details in a $1bn Secret Service request. Republicans have sought to attach the money to a roughly $70bn bill aimed at restoring funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Some GOP lawmakers criticized the security proposal over cost and taxpayer use, with the bill’s text not yet released. The Senate plans to pass the bill this week and send it to the House before Memorial Day recess. Senate majority leader John Thune acknowledged vote and parliamentarian issues, while John Kennedy and Thom Tillis said the security money lacks sufficient support. Democrats criticized efforts to fund the ballroom amid affordability concerns.
"Senate Republicans could strip Donald Trump’s lavish White House ballroom complex from the Department of Homeland Security funding bill after members queried the timing and lack of detail in the $1bn Secret Service request. Facing pressure from the Trump administration, Republicans have tried to add the money to a roughly $70bn bill to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. However, the security proposal met with backlash from some GOP lawmakers who are questioning the cost and how the taxpayer dollars would be used, AP reported."
"While the bill’s text has yet to be released, the Senate hopes to pass it this week and send it to the House before leaving for a week-long Memorial Day recess. The dispute comes as Senate majority leader John Thune acknowledged ongoing vote issues on Wednesday with leaders attempting to measure Republican support, as well as ongoing parliamentarian issues as they try to figure out what will be allowed in the bill under the chamber’s rules. There’s always a consequence with taking on United States senators, Thune said."
"[The president] obviously has his favorites and people he wants to endorse and that’s his prerogative. But what we have to deal with up here is moving the agenda, and obviously that can become slightly more complicated. Republican senator John Kennedy said on Wednesday that the bill would be back to square one without the security money because the votes are not there. Meanwhile, senator Thom Tillis said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a bad idea because he does not think there is enough backing to pass it, even if the cost were reduced."
"Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to fund Trump’s ballroom when voters are concerned about basic affordability issues. In other developments: The US issued a federal criminal"
#us-senate #homeland-security-funding #secret-service #immigration-and-customs-enforcement #border-patrol
Read at www.theguardian.com
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