Johnson hits mounting roadblocks in race to reopen DHS

The weekend shooting at a press gala attended by President Trump is creating new headaches for House GOP leaders as they scramble to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ahead of a looming freeze on employee pay. 

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his leadership team were already laboring to adopt a budget blueprint this week to fund immigration enforcement in the face of internal pressure to pile a host of unrelated proposals — including tougher election rules — into the package.

Their efforts to unify the GOP conference have become even tougher in the wake of Saturday’s shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, as a number of Republicans are now clamoring for yet another provision to be attached: authorizing Trump to build his White House ballroom. 

“Any consideration of DHS reconciliation instructions this week & beyond should provide for construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds — in addition to other concerns being addressed regarding ICE/CBP, SAVE America, Transgender & Abortion funding, Recon 3, & more,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), policy chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, wrote Sunday on the social platform X.

Any holdup caused by the new demands could have ripple effects on the two-step process Republicans hope to use to reopen DHS.

GOP leaders have insisted on passing a GOP-only bill that would fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol before taking up a bipartisan package to fund the rest of DHS, including the Secret Service. And any changes to the budget resolution that will serve as a blueprint for the GOP-only bill would have to go back to the Senate, which adopted its version after an all-night voting marathon last week.

Trump’s $400 million ballroom has generated a storm of controversy since the president demolished the East Wing of the White House late last year to make room for the addition. Trump and his supporters argue that the renovation — to include an underground bunker — is a matter of urgent necessity, both for hosting foreign dignitaries and for protecting top officials from external security threats. 

But the project has drawn howls from Democrats and preservationists, who say it’s just another gilded trophy for an egotistical president — one funded by anonymous wealthy donors hoping to curry favor from Trump. The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) has filed a lawsuit to halt construction. And a federal judge ruled last month that, despite the plan to fund the project through private donations, Trump........

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