White House ballroom security upgrades become Democratic target
Source: Roll Call
Posted May 8, 2026 at 1:47pm
Senate Democrats are preparing to challenge on procedural grounds a $1 billion provision in a GOP reconciliation bill that is connected to plans for a White House ballroom. Democrats say the provision is a “glaring” violation of the Senate’s Byrd rule, which restricts the type of material that can be considered in a reconciliation bill, according to sources familiar with their conversations.
The White House and Department of Homeland Security have come out in strong support of the provision in recent days, arguing, for example, that past attempts to assassinate President Donald Trump and a gunfight with an intruder at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner two weeks ago necessitate increased security measures.
The section of the reconciliation bill written by Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans would provide $1 billion to the Secret Service “for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.” The provision also includes a limitation that none of the $1 billion “may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project,” which presumably includes the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
Democrats believe the funding and its purpose lie outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee, a violation of the Byrd rule if true, the sources said. The Byrd rule, named after its principal sponsor, the late West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert C. Byrd, prohibits matter that is “extraneous” to the budget. The rule provides several definitions of what can be considered extraneous, including a title or provision in a reconciliation bill that was written by a committee that does not have jurisdiction over the matter.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/05/08/white-house-ballroom-security-upgrades-become-democratic-target/
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In 1985 and 1986, the Senate adopted the Byrd rule (named after its principal sponsor, Senator Robert C. Byrd) on a temporary basis as a means of curbing these practices. The Byrd rule was extended and modified several times over the years. In 1990, the Byrd rule was incorporated into the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 as Section 313 and made permanent (2 U.S.C. 644).
A Senator opposed to the inclusion of extraneous matter in reconciliation legislation may offer an amendment (or a motion to recommit the measure with instructions) that strikes such provisions from the legislation, or, under the Byrd rule, a Senator may raise a point of order against such matter. In general, a point of order authorized under the Byrd rule may be raised in order to strike extraneous matter already in the bill as reported or discharged (or in the conference report), or to prevent the incorporation of extraneous matter through the adoption of amendments or motions. A motion to waive the Byrd rule, or to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the chair on a point of order raised under the Byrd rule, requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the membership (60 Senators if no seats are vacant).
The Byrd rule provides six definitions of what constitutes extraneous matter for purposes of the rule (and several exceptions thereto), but the term is generally described as covering provisions unrelated to achieving the goals of the reconciliation instructions.
The Byrd rule has been in effect during Senate consideration of 23 reconciliation measures from late 1985 through the present.
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