May 17th, 2026Heinrich Leads Effort in Successfully Striking GOP’s First Attempt to Fund $1 Billion for Trump’s Ballroom in Republican’s Budget Bill

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released the following statement with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, U. S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, after winning an initial challenge before the Senate Parliamentarian, who advised that the current language in Republicans' budget bill providing funding for Trump’s gilded ballroom would be subject to a 60-vote Byrd Rule point of order: “Throwing a billion taxpayer dollars at Trump’s gold-plated ballroom is the last thing Congress should be doing while hardworking Americans are getting crushed at the gas pump, at the grocery store, and by higher housing, health care, and home energy costs. That's why Senate Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to strip the funding for Trump’s gold-plated ballroom from this Republican funding bill. “Republicans’ only focus has been funding Trump’s ballroom and throwing tens of billions more taxpayer dollars at ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms or accountability – all while providing $0 in cost relief to American families. Senate Democrats are focused on bringing down costs, and throughout this process, Democrats will continue to show the American people that we are fighting to make it easier for families to get ahead and build an economy where families thrive and billionaires pay their fair share.” BACKGROUND: Under Senate rules, provisions included in a budget reconciliation bill must have a direct impact on federal spending or revenue and cannot be considered “extraneous” to the budget process. The Senate Parliamentarian is the nonpartisan official responsible for interpreting those rules, including the Byrd Rule — a Senate rule designed to prevent unrelated policy provisions from being jammed into reconciliation bills that can pass with a simple majority instead of the usual 60-vote threshold. In this case, the Parliamentarian advised that Republicans’ proposal to spend taxpayer dollars on Trump’s ballroom would be subject to a Byrd Rule challenge, meaning Democrats can force a vote requiring 60 senators to keep the provision in the bill — a threshold Republicans are unlikely to meet. Heinrich and his colleagues are prepared to challenge any future language the Republicans try to pass to use taxpayer dollars to fund Trump’s ballroom. ###