OAN Staff Addie Davis
8:08 AM – Monday, May 18, 2026
The funding plan for the White House ballroom security measures hit yet another setback after the Senate Parliamentarian found it violated the Byrd Rule, possibly requiring a supermajority vote to pass.
Following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD), GOP leaders stressed the importance of building the ballroom for safety and logistical purposes. Originally announced as privately-funded, the addition faced ongoing legal and critical backlash, prompting Republicans to shift their strategy and seek to fund security elements for the White House compound through a $1 billion reconciliation bill provision.
According to reporting by the Associated Press, $220 million of these funds would go specifically to security functions and features of the ballroom, with the rest allocated for other security improvements and measures, including a screening facility for White House visitors and investments for training United States Secret Service agents for modern threats.
A budget reconciliation bill, which is governed by separate guidelines than a traditional funding package, bypasses the Senate filibuster rules, thus only requiring a simple majority to pass, which Republicans hold in Congress.
According to a Saturday press release from U.S. Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who is the official procedural adviser, found that the funding provision violated the Byrd Rule, which is meant to rein in reconciliation measures by preventing non-budgetary extraneous provisions and placing restrictions based on committee jurisdiction.
“Following this guidance from the Senate Parliamentarian, Republicans will either have to strip the provision as drafted from the bill, or Democrats will raise a Byrd Rule point of order on the floor, and the provision will fail to get the necessary 60 votes to remain in the bill. Democrats are prepared to challenge any future language the Republicans try to pass to use taxpayer dollars to fund Trump’s ballroom,” several Senate Democrats said in a joint statement on Saturday.
However, an aide for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) characterized the hurdle as a usual part of the process.
“Redraft. Refine. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process,” Ryan Wrasse wrote on X on Saturday.
Senate Republicans recently recognized the process for ensuring that legislative texts are within Senate rules.
“Technical adjustments are a standard part of the budget reconciliation process. Revisions and conversations with the parliamentarian are ongoing to ensure the text is fully Byrd compliant,” Senate Judiciary Republicans posted to X on Friday.
Republicans included the security provision in the larger reconciliation bill meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Following the longest partial government shutdown in United States history, Republicans shifted to this strategy to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies.
President Donald Trump issued a June 1st deadline for the immigration enforcement legislation to reach his desk, adding urgency for Republican lawmakers to smooth out any wrinkles in the funding plan.
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