Senate bill pairs immigration funding with $1 billion White House East Wing work

Senate Republicans have folded a $1 billion White House East Wing security item into a roughly $72 billion bill aimed at financing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through 2029, turning a hard-line immigration push into a fight over Donald Trump’s ballroom project.

The legislative text would steer the money to the Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” connected to the White House East Wing Modernization Project, which includes Trump’s planned ballroom. White House officials say the non-security construction is being paid for with private donations, while the Senate proposal uses taxpayer dollars for the protective work around the White House compound, including above-ground and below-ground security features.

Trump has publicly said the ballroom should be privately funded, even as he has described it as needing bulletproof glass and protection against drone attacks. In court filings, the White House went further, saying the project would be heavily fortified with bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. The split underscores the central political tension in the bill: Republican lawmakers are selling the package as a major immigration-enforcement investment, but it now also carries a visible White House renovation dispute.

The East Wing project was announced in July 2025 and the East Wing was demolished by October 2025. It was challenged in court and temporarily blocked in late March, when a federal judge ruled legislators had not properly authorized the project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allowed construction to resume last month, and the next hearing is scheduled for June 5.

The White House has already said the project’s private-funding agreement, signed in October 2025, includes donor anonymity, a fee structure and a ban on foreign contributions. Davis Ingle, the White House spokesman, said the administration applauds the security money and that Congress has recognized the need for the funds.

That leaves Senate Republicans trying to advance a party-line reconciliation bill that funds ICE and Border Patrol through 2029 while defending an added White House spending item that critics are likely to see as evidence of misplaced priorities. The package may still move on Republican votes alone, but the East Wing money ensures the immigration bill is no longer just about enforcement.