Republicans split on using taxpayer funds for Trump's ballroom

Despite renewed GOP calls for funding the ballroom after a shooting at a dinner attended by the president, the project still faces an uphill climb in Congress.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s top allies are pushing for Congress to fund a costly White House ballroom after the president was evacuated from a dinner Saturday in a sprawling hotel ballroom where a gunman breached a security checkpoint.

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But Republicans are divided on whether to make taxpayers foot the bill, with some preferring to let Trump raise money privately to construct the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. And Democrats remain firmly opposed, meaning it would be a heavy lift for Republicans to pass a bill.

On Monday, a trio of Republicans senators — Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri — announced legislation to provide $400 million to build a new ballroom on the White House grounds.