Staff Reports
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump gave reporters a highly publicized tour of a massive, heavily fortified 90,000-square-foot ballroom being built on the White House grounds.
It replaces the historic East Wing structure to solve what Trump calls a “150-year need” for a space large enough to host 1,000-person state dinners without resorting to temporary South Lawn tents.
Hidden beneath the venue is a massive multi-level complex intended for a military hospital, advanced research facilities, and secure communication bunkers.
The exterior blends Greek and Roman neoclassical facades, while the 20-foot-tall interior features a lavish, Versailles-inspired gold-and-white layout with crystal chandeliers and Corinthian columns.
The project has drawn intense scrutiny and political battles due to its grandiose scope.
Trump described the building as a military-grade “shield.” It features 4-inch-thick impenetrable glass, a drone-proof flat steel roof designed for defensive drone operations, and an underlying bunker extending six stories underground
The White House maintains that the construction costs—which have doubled to $400 million—are privately financed by Trump and corporate donors as a “gift to the nation.”
However, a political firestorm erupted over a $1 billion congressional funding request for accompanying Secret Service security upgrades. On May 20, Senate Republicans dropped the funding from a log-rolled reconciliation bill after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it violated strict budget rules.
Under Senate rules, provisions included in a budget reconciliation bill must have a direct impact on federal spending or revenue and cannot be considered “extraneous” to the budget process.
The Senate Parliamentarian is the nonpartisan official responsible for interpreting those rules, including the Byrd Rule — a Senate rule designed to prevent unrelated policy provisions from being jammed into reconciliation bills that can pass with a simple majority instead of the usual 60-vote threshold.
In this case, the Parliamentarian advised that Republicans’ proposal to spend taxpayer dollars on Trump’s ballroom would be subject to a Byrd Rule challenge, meaning Democrats can force a vote requiring 60 senators to keep the provision in the bill.
The parliamentarian is a nonpartisan official who advises on Senate procedures. Lawyer Elizabeth MacDonough has served in the role since 2012, appointed by then-Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., after 13 years as an assistant in the office.
Trump called for MacDonough’s firing days after she rejected a Republican attempt to include money related to his proposed White House ballroom in a bill that funds immigration enforcement agencies.
The president’s May 20 demand for her ouster didn’t mention the ballroom or other specific objections, but he accused her of bias.
“Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not so to the Dumocrats — So why has she not been replaced?” Trump said on social media, using a pejorative for the opposition party. “Get smart and tough Republicans, or you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”
Perhaps, if Trump called for a bipartisan committee to go over the ballroom’s blueprints, Democrats would stop raising the alarm bells. If he was open about the funding sources for the project, maybe the discourse would be different.
The complex is scheduled to open in September 2028, just months before the end of Trump’s second term.
