“[T]here is appropriated to the United States Secret Service, for fiscal year 2026, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, $1,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2029, for the pur17 poses of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.”
That was language from the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 2026 budget reconciliation bill providing explicit Congressional authorization for President Donald Trump’s planned White House Ballroom security extension in the White House East Wing following the April 25 assassination attempt on the President at the White House Correspondents Association dinner at the Washington, D.C. Hilton — the same hotel Ronald Reagan was shot at in 1981.
The provision also follows a March 31 ruling by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia requiring Congressional authorization for President Trump to proceed with the renovation.
The court’s March 31 ruling stated, “I must therefore GRANT the National Trust’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, and the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.”
But included exception for anything covering security: “I will also exclude construction necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House from the scope of the injunction…” including a subterranean bunker.
On March 31, the President had reiterated he didn’t believe Congressional authorization was necessary for the project: “we don’t feel, we know that Congressional approval is not necessary to put up a ballroom. And with many things have been built on the site, they’ve never gotten Congressional approval. And especially when the money is all put up. This is all donations by people that love our country, that love the White House and that feel it was very necessary.”
But now Congress is going to provide the authorization anyway, rendering the court case moot as it never will even get to the merits of the case.
The provision comes in the larger reconciliation bill to provide an additional $70 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol through the end of 2028 for the remainder of President Trump’s second term.
Senate Democrats had filibustered this very funding in the 76-day-long partial government shutdown, the longest in history, and so now it will be in the reconciliation bill instead.
It’s a lot like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Congress knows how this story will end, and so it can prepare now — or not.
There are other items that might later be the subject of Democratic Party-led government shutdowns in 2026, 2027 and 2028, including funding for the Department of War with ongoing naval operations blockading Iran’s ports.
So, Congressional Republicans in 2026 might as well fill everything the President needs for security — the border, immigration enforcement, the ballroom or the war — up to the rim. Or complain about it later when Democrats hold up funding for everything else. In that regard, who cares if Democrats vote for the President’s priorities? The traditional bipartisan appropriations process is as good as dead. It might be time just accept that reality.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government.
