A US Senate official on Saturday removed security funding that could be used for Donald Trump’s planned $400m White House ballroom from a massive spending package, Democratic lawmakers said, imperilling Republican efforts to devote taxpayer money to the contentious project.
The decision by the Senate’s parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, deals a blow to Trump and his administration, which has sought the money for security purposes related to the ballroom.
Trump has said construction of the ballroom will be funded by private donors. But Senate Republicans are seeking $1bn in taxpayer funding to the Secret Service for security upgrades, including the ballroom, even though the bulk of the legislation is devoted to immigration enforcement.
Trump’s congressional allies are invoking complex budget rules to secure passage without any Democratic support. Democrats have opposed funding for Trump’s signature immigration crackdown absent reforms they have sought since federal immigration agents killed US citizens in separate incidents in Minnesota in January.
Ryan Wrasse, a spokesperson for Senate majority leader John Thune, wrote in a post on X that “none of this is abnormal” during the complicated budget process that Republicans are using to try to pass the immigration enforcement and White House security money on a partisan basis.
“Redraft. Refine. Resubmit,” Wrasse said in the post.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, leaving them short of the 60 votes needed to pass most legislation under the chamber’s rules. Democrats have criticized the ballroom as an expensive and frivolous diversion by Trump at a time when Americans face rising costs such as higher fuel prices.
Federal funding for Trump’s $400m ballroom in jeopardy after Senate ruling
Republicans have said the ballroom-related spending they are pursuing is needed to ensure presidential safety, citing an April incident in which a gunman tried to storm a black-tie media gala in Washington that Trump attended.
Republican Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy loses primary after Trump intervenes to oust him
The Republican senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary on Saturday, as voters in Louisiana opted instead to advance two challengers to a runoff election after an extraordinary intervention by Donald Trump to oust the incumbent.
Trump attacks Massie as Republican critic describes ‘desperate’ attempts to oust him from primary
With two days to go before the next big test of Donald Trump’s iron grip over his party, the president went head-to-head on Sunday with his nemesis, Thomas Massie the Kentucky congressman who is in a fight for his political life in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Workers racing to turn reflecting pool blue for Trump may be at risk, union warns
Workers renovating one of Washington DC’s most historically symbolic sites in a project ordered by Donald Trump may be risking their safety as they race to finish on time for the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations, a union monitoring the site has warned.
Kash Patel faces scrutiny over snorkelling outing at USS Arizona memorial in Hawaii
The FBI director, Kash Patel, is facing new scrutiny following reports that he participated in a snorkelling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer.
The outing was first reported this week by the Associated Press, which obtained government emails describing the excursion as a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona – the site that holds the remains of more than 1,000 US navy sailors and marines who died at Pearl Harbor in 1941.
What else happened today:
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The hantavirus outbreak, while unlikely to spark the next big pandemic, is shining a spotlight on the ways public health has deteriorated in the US: its ability to test for rare diseases, its expertise on outbreak prevention and response, its ability to battle misinformation and restore trust.
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Thousands of people streamed on to the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally on Sunday billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God”. The White House-backed event has drawn broad criticism for blurring the lines between church and state, as prominent Republican officials appeared to speak alongside a slate of mostly evangelical speakers.
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After a series of record-breaking US heatwaves, the 2026 bee swarm season in North America has started 17 days earlier than last year, pushing beekeepers to adapt to a rapidly shifting season while raising new questions about how honeybees are responding to the climate crisis.
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An investigation is under way after two US jets collided and crashed during an airshow Sunday at Mountain Home air force base in western Idaho, a spokesperson told Reuters.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 16 May 2026.