On May 16, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough blocked $1 billion for the Secret Service for additional security at the White House that included upgrades to the White House East Wing and construction of the White House Ballroom so that presidents have a secure location to host large gathering events from an upcoming budget reconciliation bill.
According to the guidance, “This section provides $1 billion to the U.S. Secret Service for the ballroom project in the East Wing of the White House. 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. As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.”
Here MacDonough is relying on 2 U.S. Code Sec. 644(b)(1)(A) that makes matters “extraneous”: “a provision that is not in the jurisdiction of the committee with jurisdiction over said title or provision shall be considered extraneous.”
That, despite the fact that the Senate Judiciary Committee does have jurisdiction of the Secret Service.
Under the ruling, the Senate can fund tens of billions of dollars for hundreds of miles of border walls on the U.S. southern border, but in principle could not build a fence around the White House on budget reconciliation.
Then, Senate Republican leaders removed the provision on May 20, rather than do anything bold like overrule the parliamentarian or remove her despite calls from President Donald Trump to do so the same day.
In a May 20 Truth Social post, Trump urged MacDonough’s removal, calling Democrats “Dumocrats” in the post, “Shockingly, Republicans have kept the very important position of ‘Parliamentarian’ in the hands of a woman, Elizabeth MacDonough, who was appointed, long ago, by Barack Hussein Obama and a vicious Lunatic known as Senator Harry Reid, who ran the Senate for the Dumocrats with an “iron fist.” Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats — So why has she not been replaced? There are many fair people who would be qualified for that vital job.”
Trump added, “The Republicans play a very soft game compared to the Dumocrats. It is their single biggest disadvantage in politics.”
Three days later, on May 23, a lunatic with a gun opened fire on a Secret Service checkpoint at the White House compound and was shot dead after a previous attempt in 2025 to enter the White House grounds, and a bystander was wounded.
This followed the April 25 attempted assassination of President Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington, D.C. Hilton—the same hotel Ronald Reagan was shot at in 1981.
Following the evacuation of the Washington Hilton — the same hotel Ronald Reagan was shot at in 1981 — and the cancelled dinner, President Trump reminded reporters in the White House briefing room this was why he believed the White House needed its own dedicated ballroom for events of this kind to be safe, stating, “I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room and it’s much more secure.”
Trump added, “It’s drone proof. It’s bulletproof glass, we need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it. They’ve wanted the ballroom for 150 years for lots of different reasons. But today’s uh a little bit different because today we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before.”
In announcing the ballroom on July 31, 2025, the White House anticipated its enhanced security features: “The United States Secret Service will provide the necessary security enhancements and modifications.”
As recently as March 31, at the Oval Office, the President was saying the ballroom was needed for security, commenting on the federal court ruling from the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, which placed a preliminary injunction on further construction.
Trump stated, “they said we need congressional approval. He also said, but this is positive for us, I’m allowed that, meaning we are allowed to continue building as necessary to, let’s say, what is that? To cover the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”
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.
Then, the Senate Judiciary Committee decided to provide the explicit Congressional authorization and render the court case moot in its language for the 2026 budget reconciliation bill:
“[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.”
But no longer. The Senate parliamentarian said no and Senate Republicans said oh well. Three days later another maniac was trying to get into the White House to kill the President—showing that the White House is the safest place for the President to be.
Whereas, Senate Democrats and the parliamentarian apparently want the current president and future presidents to be at large in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Capitol, the Hilton or Ford’s Theater — the sites of attempted and actual presidential assassinations.
At this point, the partisan food fight against President Trump making improvements in Washington, D.C. including the ballroom is endangering the President. Senate Republicans have the votes to just override the parliamentarian or fire her — and do what is necessary to protect the President. No more excuses.
After two assassination attempts in a month, enough is enough.
Robert Romano is the Executive Director of Americans for Limited Government.
