WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans are advancing a roughly $70 billion funding proposal for federal immigration enforcement agencies that also includes $1 billion earmarked for security infrastructure tied to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project.
The spending package would provide major funding increases for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the remainder of Trump’s presidency. According to reports, more than $60 billion of the proposal would go toward immigration enforcement operations.
The measure comes shortly after Congress approved bipartisan legislation ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and funding the Department of Homeland Security. Immigration enforcement funding was largely excluded from that legislation after Democrats pushed for reforms following the deaths of two American citizens during encounters with federal agents earlier this year.
The latest proposal also includes funding for the U.S. Secret Service to support security enhancements connected to the White House East Wing modernization and ballroom project.
“The White House applauds Congress’s latest proposal in its reconciliation package which includes additional funding for security infrastructure upgrades in relation to the long overdue East Wing Modernization Project,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to NPR.
“Due in part to the recent assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the proposal would provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex,” Ingle added.
According to the legislation, the $1 billion allocation may only be used for security-related improvements and cannot fund non-security portions of the ballroom project. The Trump administration has maintained that private donors are financing the ballroom construction itself.
Still, Democratic lawmakers criticized the proposal as unnecessary spending during a period of rising economic pressure tied to international conflicts and higher consumer costs.
“This is hypocrisy at its finest,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on X. “Trump’s gold-encrusted ballroom has gone from costing $200 million funded by shady donors to $1 BILLION from TAXPAYERS — snuck into the ICE bill by Senate Republicans.”
Some Republican lawmakers have floated the idea of directly appropriating taxpayer dollars for ballroom construction, though those proposals have not gained broad support within Congress.
The White House ballroom project has become one of the administration’s most closely watched federal construction efforts, with cranes visible over the East Wing redevelopment site in recent weeks.
While the ballroom security funding has generated political attention, immigration enforcement remains the centerpiece of the legislation.
The proposal would further expand federal immigration operations after last year’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which directed approximately $75 billion toward border security and immigration enforcement programs.
In addition to immigration-related spending, the bill allocates nearly $1.5 billion for Department of Justice operations, including terrorism investigations, prosecutions and work conducted by the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration.
Republican leaders are aiming to move the package quickly through Congress, with President Donald Trump reportedly requesting that lawmakers deliver the bill to his desk by June 1.
The proposal is expected to face strong Democratic opposition as debates continue over immigration policy, federal spending priorities and oversight of homeland security agencies.
Originally reported by Eric McDaniel in NPR.
