GOP lawmakers draw battle lines over costly Trump project

Many of President Donald Trump's close allies are insisting that his proposed White House ballroom will be entirely funded by the private sector, not by American taxpayers. But not everyone on the right is convinced that federal tax dollars won't be used for the project.

The Hill's Alexander Bolton, in an article published on April 28, examines conflicting views on the ballroom proposal coming from conservative GOP lawmakers.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) is arguing that the ballroom shouldn't be allowed to add to the United States' already-huge federal deficit.

Scott, on April 27, told NBC News, "I don't know why you would do it (with taxpayer money ... if it's all funded. We have $39 trillion in debt. We ought to stop spending money."

However, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) is expressing different views.

"President Trump initially planned to pay for the construction of the ballroom, which will replace the White House's former East Wing, with private donations," Bolton explains. "But now, a group of GOP senators led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is pushing a bill to authorize $400 million to build the ballroom along with an underground military facility and Secret Service annex in case of national emergency. Graham and his partners, including Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), would offset the cost of the project with national park user fees and custom fees. The South Carolina Republican said taxpayers should pay for the infrastructure and donors could pay for decor and furnishings."

Graham is using a gunman's Saturday, April 25 attack on the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, held at the Washington Hilton, to justify asking taxpayers to pay for the ballroom.

On April 27, Graham told reporters, "A meeting space that is secured on the White House grounds that would allow people to do what they did at the Hilton Hotel is necessary. I'm convinced that had there been a presidential ballroom adjacent to the White House, the guy would have never gotten in."

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