GOP’s Attempt to Fund Trump’s Dumb Ballroom With Taxpayer Money Gets Smote

It’s been another weekend of religious pomp and balderdash for MAGA, whose biggest bible thumpers on Sunday gathered in Washington, D.C. for the Trump-endorsed, Hegseth-headlined, prayer event, “Rededicate 250.” The processions were as stupid as you might imagine, and during the ecclesiastical bash, Eric Metaxas, a far-right Christian author, claimed to crowds that God (herself) appointed Trump to the Oval Office so that we all shalt hath a Holy Ballroom, as the heavens intended. Alas, Metaxas clearly hasn’t gotten to the part of the Bible where the Senate smote God’s plans. 

Early this month, GOP Senators proposed to sneak an extra $1 billion towards the ballroom via a $72 billion spending bill for immigration enforcement, saying the funding would be for White House “security.” On Saturday, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough—who interprets Senate rules and decides whether certain legislative provisions are met—shot it down, saying it did not meet procedural standards, and that allocating funding for a project like the ballroom does not apply to a spending bill meant to focus on immigration. The news was initially reported by the upper chamber’s Democrats. 

“Republicans tried to make taxpayers foot the bill for Trump’s billion-dollar ballroom,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) told reporters on Saturday night. “Senate Democrats fought back—and blew up their first attempt.” 

For the GOP, part of the appeal in attaching the $1 billion security funding to this bill was because it would allow them to skirt the filibuster, and would only need a simple majority—or in other words, no Democratic votes—to pass. (Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority in the Senate.) The GOP’s thus likely to try and revise the language to meet procedural standards and sneak a similar provision through, though Schumer insists Dems will be “ready to stop them again” if they do. 

checking in for a brief moment on the Rededicate 250 blasphemy fest and yep, it’s beyond parody

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) May 17, 2026 at 5:38 PM

 

It’s been nearly a year since the Trump administration announced the White House ballroom, originally what Trump said would be a fix for rainy-day parties—or “schlopping.” In July, White House Propaganda Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt promised the vanity project would be finished “long before” the end of Trump’s term in 2029; that nothing would be torn down to build it; and that private donors would be funding the receipt, which was then $200 million. Zero of those promises have been kept. 

The ballroom is behind schedule and projected to be finished just right before Trump finishes his term; in October; Trump demolished the East Wing to make room for it; and from July to today, the price tag has gone from $200 million, to $300 million, to $350 million, to $400 million, to, yes, $1 billion. And private donors were looking a lot like public funds. 

Since his speech, Metaxas tweeted that his comments were but an “insane joke” and that he doesn’t actually believe it’s Trump’s God-given right to create a 90,000-square-foot-eyesore. Funny. No one seems to be laughing.