Senate Republicans have expanded the scope of their immigration enforcement funding package to include $1 billion for security upgrades in the White House ballroom project and $1.5 billion for the Justice Department’s investigative and prosecutorial efforts.
The filibuster-proof budget reconciliation package that Republicans hope to pass this month provides a total of $71.8 billion through fiscal 2029, designed to last through President Trump’s term.
The bulk of the money, $69.3 billion, will go to the Department of Homeland Security to fund immigration enforcement agents and operations.
Democrats filibustered the annual Homeland Security Department appropriations bill over their objection to funding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol functions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection without significant policy changes.
That led to a record 76-day department shutdown, which ended last week after Congress passed a spending bill that funded the department, except for ICE and Border Patrol.
The budget reconciliation package is designed to fill those gaps. It provides $38.2 billion for ICE and $26.1 billion for CBP, as well as $5 billion in additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security, to be used largely at its discretion.
Much of the language describing the allowable uses of the funding is purposefully broad.
Still, it has a few specifications, including that $3.5 billion of the Border Patrol funding be set aside for upgrades of border surveillance and screening technology and “new platforms for rapid air and marine response capabilities.”
The $1 billion for the White House ballroom also falls under the Homeland Security Department. The funds are directed to the Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the project.
The Secret Service is planning to build an annex underneath the ballroom, along with other military-grade security infrastructure. The ballroom itself will include security features, such as bulletproof glass and counter-drone technology.
The bill says the $1 billion cannot be used for nonsecurity elements of the ballroom project. However, that figure is more than double the projected $400 million cost of the East Wing renovation.
Mr. Trump has raised the bulk of the funding needed through private donations, and some Republicans may object to taxpayer funds being spent on the ballroom project.
The reconciliation package also includes $1.5 billion for the Department of Justice, giving it wide latitude to spend the money.
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