Senate Republicans are considering stripping Donald Trump’s proposed $1bn ballroom complex from a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, after members of the party questioned both the timing and the lack of detail in the Secret Service request.
The proposal, which would fund a lavish White House ballroom, has been added to a roughly $70bn bill designed to restore funding to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. But the security spending has met with backlash from some GOP lawmakers who are challenging the cost and how taxpayer dollars would be used. The bill’s text has yet to be released, but the Senate hopes to pass it this week and send it to the House before a week-long Memorial Day recess.
Senate majority leader John Thune acknowledged “ongoing vote issues” on Wednesday as leaders attempt to measure Republican support, alongside “ongoing parliamentarian issues” as they try to determine what will be allowed under the chamber’s rules. “There’s always a consequence with taking on United States senators,” Thune said. “[The president] obviously has his favorites and people he wants to endorse and that’s his prerogative. But what we have to deal with up here is moving the agenda, and obviously that can become slightly more complicated.”
Republican senator John Kennedy said on Wednesday that the bill would be “back to square one” without the security money because “the votes are not there.” Senator Thom Tillis described the effort to include the package as a “bad idea,” adding that he does not believe there is enough backing to pass it even if the cost were reduced. Tillis would not support the bill if it is considered this week, according to a recent report.
Democrats have criticised Republicans for prioritising the ballroom funding while voters are concerned about basic affordability issues. The bill is undergoing a “vote-a-rama” in the Senate, a process involving numerous amendments, as Republicans aim to pass it using budget reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Democrats are expected to offer amendments regarding the ballroom budget and the Trump administration’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
Other political developments
A separate controversy surrounds the $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” established by the Trump administration’s Department of Justice as part of a settlement with the IRS. The fund is intended to compensate individuals who claim to have been victims of government “weaponization and lawfare.” Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a Philadelphia-area district carried by Kamala Harris in 2024, has pledged to “try to kill” the fund, citing concerns about transparency, oversight and legal authority. Fitzpatrick has written to the acting attorney general and is considering legislative options.
Republican senator Bill Cassidy has denounced both the ballroom and the anti-weaponization fund, calling the latter a “slush fund … without a legal precedent.” Two police officers who defended the US Capitol during the January 6 riot have sued Donald Trump over the fund, describing it as “the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century” and alleging it could be used to reward those who participated in the attack. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has defended the fund but did not rule out potential payments to January 6th participants.
The Supreme Court is expected to hand down opinions today on several major cases involving Trump. In Trump v. Cook, the court is examining the legality of Trump’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, who contends her “for cause” removal was not justified. Justices appeared skeptical of Trump’s ability to fire Cook during oral arguments in January 2026. Trump v. Slaughter concerns the firing of Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter. Trump v. Barbara addresses the constitutionality of an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship; justices appeared poised to invalidate the order in oral arguments last month.
The US has issued a federal criminal indictment against former Cuban president Raúl Castro on charges including conspiracy to kill US nationals, murder and destruction of aircraft, related to the 1996 downing of two civilian planes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a video address to the Cuban people, blaming the country’s leadership and the military conglomerate GAESA for the hardships faced by citizens. Rubio said, “Cuba is not controlled by any ‘revolution.’ Cuba is controlled by GAESA.”
Body-cam footage shared with the Guardian shows ICE officers violently arresting farm workers in Oregon, smashing windows and using facial recognition software to try to identify one of them. The officers did not have warrants, and a federal judge later said the arrests appeared unlawful and unjustified. Agents admitted in court that they had used a facial recognition app during the operation.
A University of Michigan student is suing the school, alleging it violated his constitutional rights by conducting a vast undercover surveillance operation against him in response to his protest of Israel’s war in Gaza. The lawsuit, to be filed Thursday, claims the university and private investigators conspired to intimidate, terrorise and retaliate against the student, including falsifying police reports, illegally stalking him and executing “malicious prosecutions.”
President Trump’s plan to build a 250ft triumphal arch in Washington is moving forward. The US Commission of Fine Arts approved the concept last month and is set to consider updated plans on Thursday. The administration is seeking to proceed without direct congressional approval, citing a 1924 authorisation for a different project. Trump has also proposed adding a blue coating to the interior of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in time for 4 July celebrations of America’s 250th birthday.
Will Lawrence, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement climate justice group, has secured an endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders in his bid for the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s seventh congressional district. Lawrence is calling for a nationwide moratorium on data centres. The district, which voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024, is labelled a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report ahead of the midterms.
A former federal prosecutor in Florida pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges that she illegally emailed herself a copy of the unreleased special counsel report on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents.
Ebola outbreak and US response
A previously undetected outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo variant of Ebola is spreading across parts of central Africa. There is no cure and no vaccine for this strain, which has caused two outbreaks in recent decades. As of April, there were 482 suspected cases and about 116 deaths reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with two cases and one death in Uganda and potential spread to South Sudan. The outbreak “might have been going on for a few months,” said Kristian Andersen, a professor of immunology and microbiology at Scripps Research.
The World Health Organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, immediately declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Officials say it may last for months. The US appears to be doing little to help after massive cuts to global and domestic public health efforts. In the past year, USAID has been dismantled, thousands of staff at health agencies laid off, communications stalled and key scientific research cancelled. US foreign assistance to the DRC dropped from $1.4bn in 2024 to $431m in 2025 and only $21m so far this year. Assistance to Uganda fell from $674m to $377m in 2025 and to a negative $1.2m so far in 2026.
“The DRC is one of the most vulnerable health systems in the world, and was the second-biggest recipient of USAID funding,” said Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics at Georgetown University. The US withdrawal of funding with “zero notice” has been “disruptive to the country’s basic activities,” he said. Nonetheless, the State Department has committed $23m to support containment efforts, including laboratory testing and border screenings, and travel restrictions have been implemented prohibiting foreign nationals who have visited affected regions from entering the US. Experts suggest that significant cuts have still diminished the US’s ability to effectively combat the outbreak.
