Senate Republicans are eyeing final passage of their $72 billion ICE and Border Patrol reconciliation bill within the next 48 hours.
That likely means GOP leaders are getting close to ripping off their “Ballroom Band-Aid.”
Republicans’ push to include security funding for President Donald Trump’s East Wing ballroom project is facing both political and parliamentary hurdles that now appear insurmountable.
GOP senators expect the $1 billion in Secret Service funding to be eliminated entirely or modified to remove any references to the controversial ballroom project, one of Trump’s favorites. Their next problem will be to manage Trump’s anger at their defiance.
The White House has been pushing aggressively for the ballroom language, but securing the requisite support from Republicans and the Senate’s parliamentarian has proven nearly impossible.
Two more GOP senators expressed public opposition to the ballroom effort on Tuesday, underscoring that there aren’t 50 Senate Republicans who’d vote to keep it in the bill. Most Republicans would prefer not to have to vote on this at all.
The parliamentarian has advised Senate Republicans that the ballroom-related language falls outside the jurisdiction of the two committees included in the budget resolution, Judiciary and Homeland Security.
For the purposes of budget reconciliation, anything related to the White House grounds falls under the jurisdiction of the Energy or Environment and Public Works committees.
The Senate Budget Committee will hold a mostly procedural markup this morning. It’s possible the Senate begins the floor process shortly thereafter. The vote-a-rama could begin as soon as tonight.
Some GOP senators think the process won’t begin until Thursday. But House GOP leaders are getting concerned about attendance issues if they have to wait until Friday to pass the bill, which could force them to punt until after the Memorial Day recess.
The House GOP leadership will vote today to give itself maximum flexibility to bring the reconciliation bill to the floor on the same day the Rules Committee reports out a rule.
Housing push. The House will vote on a major housing bill this afternoon. It’s a huge moment for House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), who spent months defying the Senate’s push to jam the House with its own legislation.
After days of mounting pressure, those efforts paid off in a major way Tuesday night when the House’s amended bill secured White House approval. The Senate banked on direct support from Trump to jam the House with their package. Trump was distracted by the war in Iran and his push for the SAVE America Act.
Crucially for Hill, the Arkansas Republican is now on the verge of passing significant community bank deregulations into law — an outcome that seemed impossible just months ago.
