Senate Democrats to fight Republicans’ $1bn funding plan for Trump’s ballroom

Chuck Schumer , the US Senate’s top Democrat, has vowed to oppose a Republican plan to spend $1bn on security improvements for the ballroom Donald Trump is seeking to build on the White House’s former East Wing. The money is set to be included in a measure Republicans plan to pass that would allocate about $70bn to the federal agencies leading Trump’s mass deportation campaign, with the intention of keeping them operational through the remainder of the president’s term. “That is what today’s Republicans have become: Republicans – asking working families to pay the price while Donald Trump pockets the perks,” Schumer, the Senate minority leader, wrote in a letter to Democratic senators. “Let me make one thing very clear: Senate Democrats will not let them jam through this bill without making them answer for their endless cost hikes, healthcare cuts, and every dollar diverted from American families to Trump’s priorities. Democrats will fight the Republicans’ reconciliation bill with every tool we have.” Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate judiciary committee, last week included the ballroom security money in a resolution outlining his committee’s plan for the immigration enforcement spending bill. The committee is expected to consider the resolution at a hearing on Tuesday. …