Sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the amendment was introduced during a “vote-a-rama” tied to the Republicans’ reconciliation package to fund immigration enforcement agencies until the end of Trump’s term.
“There is a plan to construct a billion-dollar ballroom, gold plated, without any action by Congress to authorize it,” Merkley said on the Senate floor. “This amendment is very simple, it says that congressional authorization is needed to proceed.”
But in a reminder that concern about the expensive project is spanning across party aisles, seven Republican Senators voted in favor of the amendment.
Collins, Husted, and Sullivan’s votes were particularly noteworthy, as all three Republicans are facing tough re-election bids later this year.
“My intention was to vote ‘yea.’ I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to change my vote, since it will not affect the outcome,” he said on the Senate floor.
“Louisianians don't want to spend... on a ballroom. I just came off the campaign trail. I mean, gas, groceries, health care—they just cannot afford it,” he said on May 19, referencing the affordability crisis in America.
The Senate early Friday voted to advance the immigration spending bill after Republicans removed the inclusion to allocate $1 billion in security additions for the White House and ballroom.
“They should have never conflated the other legitimate Secret Service needs, because it’s just giving everybody the ‘billion dollar ballroom’ and it’s just a bad idea,” Tillis said last month when it became clear that Senate Republicans would be unlikely to get the votes to fund the ballroom.
This discord was further compounded by Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s opposition on May 16, during which she ruled against including funds for the White House ballroom as part of the party’s budget reconciliation bill.
Trump holds photos of the planned ballroom during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 22, 2025. —Salwan Georges/The Washington Post—Getty ImagesBut the legal challenges are ongoing.
In March, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered for construction of the ballroom to be stopped until congressional approval had been sought and granted.
On Friday, a three-judge federal appeals court panel gathered to hear arguments from the Trump Administration as to why construction should be allowed to move ahead in totality.
Arguing once more that the building is “desperately needed,” he claimed the legal action against the project has “absolutely no standing.”
Last week, House Democrats moved to introduce a bill aimed at blocking the construction of his planned 250-ft triumphal arch, with one lawmaker arguing: “Trump’s vanity project would waste taxpayer money, brazenly violate existing law, and become yet another vehicle for his corruption.”
Trump’s mission to make ”the reflecting pool beautiful again” has raised similar concerns, as has the construction of a UFC cage-fighting arena being built on the White House lawn ahead of a fighting event to mark America’s 250th birthday.
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