Cassidy on Trump ballroom: ‘I just don’t get it’
Key takeaways
- “There’s no architectural plans, there is no environmentals, there’s no engineering, there’s no sense of — when we ask — how did it happen to cost exactly a billion [dollars].
- Cassidy is one of several Republican senators who have pushed back on the proposal to steer taxpayer money to the ambitious ballroom project.
- Several Republican senators have told Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) they are not comfortable voting for ballroom money in the budget reconciliation package that is due to come to the floor Thursday.
Why this matters: political developments that affect policy direction and public trust.
Bill Cassidy (R-La.) says the White House has done a poor job explaining its plans to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom to Senate Republicans amid its push for Congress to provide up to $1 billion in a budget reconciliation package to help build the ballroom.
“I just don’t get it,” Cassidy, who lost his primary race last weekend, told reporters Wednesday when explaining why he’s against a proposed $1 billion earmark for the ballroom and security upgrades around the White House campus.
Cassidy said it’s not clear how the money would be spent, why the administration is asking for so much funding after initially projecting the project to cost $200 million or what kind of environmental impact the project might have.