Even though President Donald Trump has long insisted that his proposed White House luxury ballroom would be funded by private donations, congressional Republicans unveiled legislation on Monday that would put US taxpayers on the hook for the project.
As reported by Punchbowl News, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released a proposal for a budget reconciliation package that includes $30 billion more in funds for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $3.4 billion for Customs and Border Protection, and $2.5 billion for the Department of Homeland Security.
Tucked into the proposal is $1 billion for what is described as an “East Wing modernization project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.”
Given that Trump is planning to build his ballroom on the area of the White House’s East Wing that he demolished last year, this means that $1 billion in taxpayer money would be going to the president’s vanity project.
Democratic officials immediately pounced on news that their Republican counterparts are planning to funnel $1 billion to the ballroom project, noting that the budget plan comes as Americans are struggling with the surging costs of energy and food.
“Zero dollars to lower costs,” wrote Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), ranking member of the House Budget Committee. “Zero dollars to protect your healthcare. A massive check for an out-of-control ICE, and $1 billion for Trump’s ballroom. This Republican budget bill is a disaster.”
Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) responded to the GOP ballroom plan by declaring, “Oh hell no.”
“Spiking prices, SCOTUS attacking democracy, collapsing faith in the US government,” Casten added, “and the GOP is prioritizing sending more money to murderous ICE agents and Trump’s ballroom vanity project. This is offensive.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) contrasted the GOP finding money to fund the ballroom with its unwillingness to extend enhanced subsidies for Americans who buy health insurance through exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act.
“Add the ballroom to the laundry list of things Trump said someone else would pay for,” Ansari wrote. “Ultimately, of course, it’s always the American people footing the bill for his outrageous pet projects. A $1BN price tag while he rips away your healthcare. Sickening.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) welcomed the chance to have his Republican colleagues go on the record in favor of funding the ballroom.
“Just flagging that now everyone gets an up or down vote on the ballroom!” he wrote.
Elected Democrats weren’t the only ones to hammer the GOP for the proposal to fund Trump’s ballroom.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, called the GOP plan a “corrupt absurdity” that would make taxpayers shell out $1 billion for the president’s “grandiose, bombastic, vanity project.”
“Using taxpayer dollars to toady to a wannabe-dictator is both pandering and pathetic,” added Gilbert, who decried the plans for increased ICE funding as “abhorrent.”
Kristen Crowell, executive director of Families Over Billionaires, denounced the ballroom funding plan as “a glaring symbol of misplaced priorities and grift,” while also calling attention to other harmful aspects of the GOP’s budget proposal.
“At a time when families are struggling to afford housing, child care, and other basic necessities,” Crowell said, “the White House and Republicans in Congress are proposing to pour tens of billions of dollars into an already bloated and unaccountable deportation machine—while also carving out funding for the president’s own luxury projects.”
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