The Senate parliamentarian late Saturday ruled against the $1 billion provision intended to fund President Trump’s White House ballroom in the budget reconciliation package.
According to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, the guidance states that “a project as complex and large in scale as Trump’s proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees,” adding that the funding provision is outside the scope of the Judiciary panel.
Earlier this month, the Senate Judiciary Committee — as well as the upper chamber’s Homeland Security Committee — included funding for the new complex in a budget reconciliation bill for federal immigration enforcement.