Senate Republicans are pushing for passage of legislation that would back the Trump administration’s planned White House ballroom in the wake of a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.

Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri announced plans to fund the ballroom project with tax dollars. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, meanwhile, said he plans to ask for unanimous consent Tuesday to pass a bill to authorize the ballroom’s construction without funding it. Both bills are expected to be released Tuesday.

President Donald Trump in July 2025 unveiled a plan to construct the ballroom, which he said would be funded through private donations. And Republicans say the high-profile shooting at the Washington Hilton — which required the evacuation of the president and many in the line of succession —further underscored the need for a secure ballroom on White House grounds.

“This is the No. 1 job of the federal government, is national security,” Graham said at a news conference announcing plans for his bill. “The No. 1 job of national security, I think, would be to protect the commander in chief, and to have infrastructure under the ballroom that is very national security-centric.”

The Graham bill would direct $400 million in federal funding to the ballroom, offset by customs fees. Schmitt told reporters the bill would also include a mechanism allowing those private donations that Trump raised to be used for the project. The White House has raised the $400 million needed to complete the ballroom from individuals and corporations, including Amazon, Meta, Altria, NextEra Energy and Lockheed Martin.

Reconciliation option considered

The surge in GOP support for the ballroom has also led some Republicans to float the prospect of including construction funds in the upcoming budget reconciliation bill designed to secure immigration enforcement funding.

The Senate GOP’s plan is to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with the Border Patrol, through the end of Trump’s term in a narrow reconciliation bill and then fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security through a Senate-passed appropriations bill for fiscal 2026. But some lawmakers have continued to push for inserting other initiatives — including ballroom funding — in the reconciliation package.

The bills by Graham and Paul, however, would tackle the ballroom project outside of budget reconciliation. Paul said Monday that his bill wouldn’t look to allocate funding to the ballroom and would instead serve as more of a codification of congressional support for the project.

“It’d be a way for Congress to put its stamp on its approval,” Paul said. “And I’m not against putting in reconciliation and doing a nominal amount. I’m not for funding the whole $500 million. We know that he’s already raised the money.”

Still, the GOP push to support the ballroom is likely to run into Democratic opposition, which would muddy the path forward for any stand-alone bill.

“If Republicans truly want to improve security, they should join Democrats in funding the Secret Service, not Donald Trump’s luxury ballroom,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the National Park Service over the ballroom plans in December, arguing that Trump and administration officials violated the Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act by demolishing the White House East Wing and moving forward with the addition.

After the Saturday night shooting, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate asked the trust’s lawyer, Greg B. Craig, to drop the lawsuit by Monday morning, saying the government otherwise would move to dissolve a court injunction against proceeding with the project

“Put simply, your lawsuit puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at grave risk,” Shumate said in a letter Sunday that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche shared in a post on X.

David Jordan contributed to this report.