Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) talks to reporters after speaking on the floor of the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 30, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
A trio of Senate Republicans on Monday announced they will introduce legislation authorizing $400 million in federal funding to build President Donald Trump‘s White House ballroom in the wake of a shooting incident that disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said they were introducing the bill to fund a project that is vital to national security.
“Many people I think originally saw it as a vanity project… I don’t see it that way,” Graham said at a press conference on Monday. “I’m convinced if there had been a presidential ballroom adjacent to the White House, the guy would have never gotten in.”
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was cut short on Saturday after an alleged gunman rushed into the hotel where the annual even was taking place, though he was stopped by Secret Service agents before accessing the room where Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other administration officials and members of Congress were gathered.
Trump in the wake of the incident immediately called for the construction of the ballroom as a more secure alternative to the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the event was held. The president has previously said the project would be paid for using private donations.
Congressional Republicans picked up those calls in the last two days, announcing plans to introduce multiple bills to clear the way for its construction.
In addition to Graham, Britt and Schmitt, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., announced Monday he would introduce bring legislation to the floor on Tuesday that moves “the project forward” and would not require “new taxpayer costs.” Even in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, using $400 million in taxpayer money to pay for a project that Trump said already had private funding is likely to be a tough sell.
Still, several GOP members of the House, including Reps. Randy Fine of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado similarly signaled they would introduce ballroom bills.
And one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, also called for his colleagues to support funding for the ballroom project.
According to Graham, the cost of the ballroom would be offset by customs fees. He said he has asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to expedite the process. Graham, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, said he has not ruled out trying to include it in a tax and spending bill currently working its way through Congress to fund controversial immigration enforcement subagencies within the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shutdown since February.
Construction of the ballroom was blocked earlier this month by a federal judge on the grounds that Trump had not secured authorization from Congress.
Britt, who leads the Senate Appropriations subpanel on Homeland Security, called the legal challenge ridiculous.
“President Trump was smart to ask for this, and now is the time for us to step up and actually move forward. And in addition to this, I hope this is a wake up call about DHS funding,” Britt said.
Secret Service is one of many agencies funded through DHS. The White House has used funding from the 2025 tax and spending law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill to pay DHS salaries in the interim, but the administration has warned that funding could run out at the end of this month.
The Senate unanimously passed a DHS bill in late March that would fund all of the agency except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and border patrol.
House Republicans rejected that bill, instead opting for an alternative that would fund the agency completely, which Democrats have refused without changes to federal immigration enforcement policy.
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