WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that a provision in a Senate budget reconciliation bill providing security funding for President Donald Trump's planned White House ballroom falls outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee and must be rewritten. The ruling removed the ballroom-related security funding from the spending package as drafted.

MacDonough said, "A project as complex and large in scale as Trump's proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees." She added, "As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee."

MacDonough wrote that the bill as drafted would be subject to a 60-vote threshold to pass, meaning it cannot move forward with a simple majority, unlike similar measures advanced using budget reconciliation. Budget reconciliation is a parliamentary tool used to bypass the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold, but it carries restrictions on what provisions can be included. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.

The broader budget bill aims to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol and allocates $1 billion to the Secret Service for security upgrades that include the White House ballroom. If Republicans do not secure the parliamentarian's approval, they may be unable to include ballroom-related funding in a $72 billion spending package planned for a Senate floor vote.

A memo shown to Republican senators outlined $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. The White House said the taxpayer funds requested would be specifically earmarked for security adjustments and upgrades associated with the ballroom project. Republicans said ballroom-related spending 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.

"Redraft. Refine. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process," Ryan Wrasse, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, wrote on X. The Byrd process is an informal procedure in which the parliamentarian reviews proposed budget reconciliation bills to ensure they comply with the Byrd Rule, which requires provisions to be directly tied to federal spending and revenue.

"Republicans tried to make taxpayers foot the bill for Trump's billion-dollar ballroom," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. "Senate Democrats fought back – and blew up their first attempt."

Some Senate Republicans had expressed hesitancy toward using $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for the project, which Trump had repeatedly said would cost no government funds. Trump had previously said the ballroom would cost $400 million and be privately funded, with corporate donors including Comcast Corporation. Trump said the ballroom will be completed around September 2028 and ordered the demolition of the White House's East Wing to make way for the project.