On December 8, 2025 in Washington, DC, demolition work continued where the East Wing of the White House once stood. President Donald Trump ordered the 123-year-old East Wing and Jacqueline Kennedy Garden to be leveled to make way for a modern 90,000-square-foot ballroom that he said would cost about $300 million and be funded with private donations. A Senate Republican bill released on May 4, 2026 includes $1 billion in taxpayer money as collateral for the project. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Republicans released a roughly $70 billion spending package Monday evening that will maintain Immigration, Customs and Border Protection for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term without the modern restrictions demanded by Democrats.
The legislation also includes $1 billion “to support U.S. Secret Service improvements related to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above- and below-ground security measures.”
Trump, who owned the East Wing of the White House bulldozed To make room for his $300 or $400 million ballroom project, he had said it would be funded by private donors, not taxpayers. White House officials I said After an incident on April 25, the ballroom is crucial to national security when top officials gather a gunman opened fire at a dinner at the Washington Hilton attended by Trump.
Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that the panel is “taking action to provide security for federal law enforcement and safer streets for American families.”
“We will work to ensure this important funding is enshrined in law without unnecessary delay,” he added.
Ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement that the package shows: “Republicans are ignoring the needs of America’s middle class and instead funneling money into Trump’s ballroom and throwing billions at two lawless agencies.”
He pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security has more than $100 billion from the tax and spending cuts package signed by Republicans that it has not spent.
“Throughout this process, Democrats will continue to show the American people that we are in favor of lowering costs, making it easier to move forward and building an economy where families thrive and billionaires pay their fair share,” Merkley said. “It’s clear the country has had enough of the Republican ‘families lose, billionaires win’ agenda.”
Billions for immigration enforcement
The package’s release follows a record-breaking shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that began after the two parties failed to reach a compromise on modern guardrails for immigration operations after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
The Justice Committee The invoice This includes $30.725 billion for ICE, $3.47 billion for Customs and Border Protection and $1.457 billion for the Justice Department.
The The invoice The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee allocated $19.1 billion for CBP to hire Border Patrol personnel and $7.45 billion for ICE to hire agents for homeland security investigations.
CPB will receive an additional $3.45 billion to purchase modern technology “to combat the import or export of illegal drugs at ports of entry,” improve border surveillance technology and conduct initial screening of unaccompanied children.
Another $2.5 billion would go to the Secretary of Homeland Security for any additional border security needs.
All funding would last until September 30, 2029.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in a statement that the panel plans to vote on the bill later this month.
“Senate Democrats refuse to vote for a single dollar to secure our borders or enforce our immigration laws, even against the most violent illegal immigrants,” Paul said.
60 votes not required in the Senate
Republicans plan to pass the law on this basis sophisticated budget reconciliation process They used last year to pass their “big, beautiful” law that gave DHS $170 billion.
GOP lawmakers agreed last month to approve the budget resolution, which unlocks the process that comes with many rules and restrictions but avoids the need to get 60 votes in the Senate to end debate.
Senate Republican leaders chose to separate funding for ICE and Border Patrol from the annual Homeland Security budget bill after little progress from either political party on restrictions on immigration agents.
The standoff led to a 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security ended at the end of April After the House sent Trump the annual funding bill, the Senate approved it a month earlier.
