Top Senate Republicans Throw Trump’s Ballroom in Jeopardy

“We have 39 trillion in debt. Maybe we ought to stop spending money.”Senators Josh Hawley and Rand Paul agreed.“I think that the donors should all be public, but I don’t know why, if you’ve got private donors who want to do it ... I prefer that to the taxpayer being on the hook,” Hawley said. “But I think it’s a separate question as to whether we need to authorize it.”“I am always conservative and he already has the money,” Paul told NBC. “And I’m not against putting in reconciliation and doing a nominal amount. I’m not for funding the whole 500 million. I think he’s already raised the money through private means.”The opposition could jeopardize Trump’s plan to push forward his ballroom. On Monday, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Katie Britt, and Eric Schmitt announced a bill to provide 400 million for Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the White House grounds.Trump had initially said that the ballroom’s construction would be paid by private donations from corporations and wealthy individuals. Now costs have ballooned and the project includes an underground military installation, bomb shelters, and a hospital. Democrats are overwhelmingly against the project, arguing that it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars and needs congressional authorization.“I have not seen a specific request with respect to the ballroom. But needless to say, we have to drive down the high cost of living. Life has become more expensive,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday. “Not a vanity project that resulted from the destruction—that was unauthorized—of the East Wing of the White House.”