WASHINGTON \u2014 After they got a private briefing Tuesday, Senate Republicans remained torn over whether to spend $1 billion in taxpayer funds on President Donald Trump\u2019s ballroom project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the closed-door lunch meeting, Secret Service Director Sean Curran briefed senators on how the money would be spent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe walked through the various categories,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters. \u201cSo it was a good back-and-forth, a good discussion, and obviously we had a lot of questions that were asked by our colleagues, just to get the details and precision as much as possible about how dollars will be used.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A memo circulated to senators, obtained by NBC News, provided some of those specifics: $220 million to harden the White House complex, $180 million for a visitors screening facility, $175 million for training and another $175 million to enhance security for Secret Service protectees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some GOP senators emerged from the meeting unconvinced or at least wanting more information before they decide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI still got some more questions, and they\u2019re going to send us more information,\u201d said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., usually a reliable vote for Trump. \u201cI\u2019m undecided.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he still has \u201ca lot\u201d of questions for the White House about the spending plan. \u201cOne of the biggest concerns on our side is adding to the deficit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answers could influence the fate of a broader party-line bill to fund ICE and the Border Patrol, since the ballroom funds are included in what Republican leaders see as a must-pass measure. Democrats forced them to remove money for ICE and Customs and Border Protection from a recent bipartisan appropriations package, vowing not to fund immigration enforcement without policy restraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats are making the ballroom funding a focus of their opposition to the current party-line bill, accusing Republicans of taking money from working-class taxpayers to fund a Trump vanity project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis ballroom is a disgrace,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Tuesday. \u201cThe Republicans know it. Let\u2019s see if they have the guts to do what they know is right, both substantively and politically, and tell Trump we don\u2019t need a damn ballroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats, emboldened by polls showing the White House ballroom to be unpopular, plan to force votes on amendments to strip out or redirect the money. Republicans can lose only three votes to protect the provision and pass the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said the project should be carried out with private funds, as Trump initially promised. And three politically vulnerable senators seeking re-election this year are being closely watched: Susan Collins, R-Maine; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; and Jon Husted, R-Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have any comment on that until I know all the facts,\u201d Husted said of the ballroom money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether he has seen the bill that lays out the funding parameters, Husted said \u201cthere are a lot of facts\u201d still to learn. Husted was appointed last year and faces former Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, this fall as he eyes his first full six-year term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins told reporters Monday, \u201cMy understanding is it\u2019s supposed to be paid for by private donations \u2014 that\u2019s what the president has said.\u201d Her office didn\u2019t immediately respond when it was asked after the briefing Tuesday whether she made up her mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokesperson for Sullivan didn\u2019t immediately reply to a request for comment on his stance regarding the ballroom funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Washington Post-ABC poll taken in late April found 2-to-1 opposition to tearing down the White House East Wing to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the timing and the optics are really bad,\u201d Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters Monday. \u201cThis time last year, roughly, maybe a little bit before, we were all impressed with the fact that this $400 million building was going to be paid for out of the generosity of donors, and now we\u2019re hearing 2\u00bd times that is necessary for some other aspect of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has said the ballroom project would cost $400 million and come entirely from private donations. Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, is one of the corporate donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether he would support an amendment to eliminate the ballroom provision, Tillis, who isn\u2019t seeking re-election, said, \u201cI\u2019m going to defer to my colleagues that are in cycle and tough races.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Tuesday that \u201cthere\u2019s some real security spending in there, which I favor,\u201d although he said the bill \u201ccould be\u201d more specific about how to spend the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul said he\u2019s unsure the provision will survive scrutiny in the \u201cByrd bath,\u201d in which the Senate parliamentarian strikes provisions that don\u2019t comply with budget rules necessary to end-run the 60-vote filibuster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure it\u2019s anything we\u2019ll ever vote on, because I think the parliamentarian will make that decision,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thune, however, predicted the provision would survive, saying senators are already \u201cmaking the arguments in front of the parliamentarian\u201d about its validity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m confident that we will be in good shape, but that process right now is underway,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the provision does survive procedurally, Democrats will need at least four Republicans to vote with them to strip it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese ballroom Republicans are choosing Trump\u2019s chandelier over your child care, Trump\u2019s ego over your electric bill, Trump\u2019s palace over the people\u2019s priorities,\u201d Schumer said at his weekly news conference. \u201cEveryone hear that alliteration?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n