May 05, 2026 01:11 PM UTC

Republicans Push $1 Billion for Ballroom That Americans Don't Care About

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• by: Colorado Pols

The price of gasoline is nearing $4.50 a gallon. The price for diesel fuel has nearly doubled in the last year; as KKTV reports, the average price per gallon in Colorado Springs hit a record high over the weekend. Rising fuel and fertilizer costs are crushing farmers nationwide. The U.S. dollar has lost 10% of its value since January 2025. Inflation is pushing 4%.

But never fear! Congressional Republicans have a plan: Spend $1 billion on construction of a new ballroom at the White House.

As The New York Times reports:

Senate Republicans have inserted $1 billion for White House East Wing security enhancements in the immigration enforcement funding bill they hope to rush through Congress this month, setting up a political fight over a ballroom that President Trump has said would be financed with private money.

The leaders of the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees on Monday released plans for the roughly $70 billion package, which would significantly bolster spending on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol through the end of Mr. Trump’s term using a party-line legislative process that can skirt a filibuster.

A surprise addition to the measure was the $1 billion proposed by the Judiciary Committee for security work related to the White House renovation initiated by the president. The measure doesn’t mention the president’s proposed new ballroom, which is being challenged in court, but Mr. Trump has insisted that a main reason for the project is to enhance security.

He and congressional Republicans have escalated their efforts to defend the project after the attempted assault late last month at a journalism gala in Washington attended by the president. Mr. Trump has also previously insisted that the project would be funded through private donations. [Pols emphasis]

How does this make any political sense at all?

It doesn’t. Not one bit.

A new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released last week shows that Americans oppose building a new ballroom at the White House BY A 2-TO-1 MARGIN. The enthusiasm gap is particularly striking; three times as many Americans “strongly” oppose the ballroom compared to those who support the idea.

As the Times continues, Republicans are practically handing the 2026 election to Democrats on a faux-gold platter:

Democrats pounced on the proposal, signaling that they intended to make the ballroom a centerpiece of their opposition to the measure and their election-year message that the president and his party were not meeting voters’ needs.

“Republicans are on a different planet than American families,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader, said in a post on social media. “Republicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom.”

Top Democrats also noted that consideration of the bill would put all senators on the record on a White House construction project that polls have shown to be unpopular.

“Just flagging that now everyone gets an up or down vote on the ballroom,” Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, said on social media. [Pols emphasis]

What makes this decision by Republicans even worse is that the Senate is trying to ram it through as part of a “budget reconciliation” process so that they can pass the legislation without support from Democrats.

One year ago, it seemed like the longest of shots that Democrats might be able to flip control of both the House and Senate in 2026.

It’s almost a foregone conclusion today that Democrats will retake the House, and Republicans seem hell-bent on giving up the Senate as well…all because none of them have the courage to say no to one man.