Administration officials are trying to win Hill Republicans’ blessing for $1 billion in security funding that could go toward parts of President Donald Trump’s ballroom project.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran is meeting Tuesday with Senate Republicans. He’ll face several senators who aren’t convinced or are outright opposed to green-lighting the money.
Expect Curran and GOP leaders to pitch the funding as necessary for White House security improvements and helping the Secret Service keep up broadly with growing threats.
The funds are part of a larger party-line spending package that would mainly support immigration enforcement. Trump has given lawmakers until June 1 to clear the legislation.
Things aren’t looking easier over in the House, where a growing number of Republicans are complaining its inclusion sends a tone-deaf message as voters struggle with higher gas and grocery prices.
“It’s a bad look. It’s bad timing. It’s bad all around,” said one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Some House GOP leaders privately doubt the measure has the votes to pass, according to four people granted anonymity to describe behind-the-scenes discussions, but they’re hoping it gets stripped out in the Senate first.
As we scooped, conversations with the Senate parliamentarian are already under way and bipartisan meetings — known as a Byrd bath — are expected later this week. Sen. Rand Paul, who said Monday he opposed the ballroom security funding measure, predicted it’s possible that provision gets stripped out during the review.
Coming up next week: The Senate Homeland Security panel will vote on its portion of the party-line bill, which does not have the ballroom language in it. The Judiciary Committee, which does, postponed its planned markup — with Chair Chuck Grassley pointing to the panel’s drawn out rules as the reason.
The Senate Budget Committee will also need to hold a meeting next week to compile the full bill. Notably, panel member Sen. John Kennedy declined multiple times to discuss the ballroom project Monday night. The Louisiana Republican has previously tried to expand the scope of the bill beyond immigration enforcement.
Senate Republicans are aiming to begin floor consideration of the bill next Wednesday to pass it and send it to the House by Friday. That timeline has House GOP leadership already discussing the likelihood they will need to remain in session for at least part of Memorial Day weekend to finish their work.
What else we’re watching:
— DEMS GRASP FOR REDISTRICTING SILVER LINING: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries — left with few alternatives for action — is hoping voters punish Republicans in the midterms for aggressively redrawing maps to help them hold onto the House in November. Jeffries guaranteed his party would win control of the chamber this fall in a letter Monday, part of a flurry of statements by Democrats trying to find a silver lining to recent court blows in the parties’ gerrymandering wars.
— TRUMP’S GAS TAX HOLIDAY FACES HEADWINDS: Bipartisan interest in a gasoline tax holiday urged by Trump is growing on Capitol Hill, but the proposal is facing pushback from key Republicans. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday he has not “been a fan of that idea” in the past, adding he’d hear out colleagues who think it’s a good plan as the Iran war continues to jeopardize global oil supplies.
Andrew Howard, Pavan Acharya and Amelia Davidson contributed to this report.
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