Senate Parliamentarian Kills $1 Billion White House Ballroom Funding

The Senate's procedural referee struck down a $1 billion provision for a White House ballroom late Saturday, dealing a direct blow to one of President Trump's signature budget priorities.

The Senate parliamentarian ruled Saturday against a $1 billion provision in the budget reconciliation package earmarked for a White House ballroom.
The ruling removes the funding line from the bill under Senate reconciliation rules, which bar provisions without a direct budgetary purpose.
The ballroom project had been pushed by President Trump as part of a broader White House renovation plan.
Senate Republicans must now decide whether to strip the provision or challenge the parliamentarian's ruling on the floor.
The full Senate is expected to resume reconciliation debate in the coming days.

The Senate parliamentarian ruled late Saturday against a $1 billion provision in the Republican budget reconciliation package designated to fund a new White House ballroom, dealing an immediate setback to one of President Trump's favored budget additions.

The ruling bars the line item under the Byrd Rule, which prohibits reconciliation provisions that lack a primary budgetary effect — a standard the parliamentarian determined the ballroom funding did not meet.

The provision had drawn scrutiny from Senate Democrats and fiscal watchdog groups since it surfaced in the package earlier this month. Critics argued the expenditure had no place in a reconciliation bill designed around tax and spending policy.

Senate Republicans can move to overrule the parliamentarian's decision on the floor, a step that requires a simple majority vote, or accept the ruling and drop the provision entirely. Neither path has been publicly committed to by GOP leadership as of Sunday morning.

The White House did not issue a public statement on the ruling by press time.

The Senate is expected to continue floor debate on the reconciliation package this week, with a final vote on the broader bill still being negotiated among Republican holdouts.