Senate Republican on Trump ballroom push: ‘We have $39 trillion of debt’

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is pushing back on a proposal to spend as much as $400 million in taxpayer money to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House, arguing that Congress needs to rein in its deficit spending at a time of historically high national debt.

Scott told NBC News on Monday evening that the project should be paid for with private funding only.

“I don’t know why you would do it” with taxpayer money “if it’s all funded,” Scott told NBC News.

“We have $39 trillion in debt,” he said. “Maybe we ought to stop spending money.”

Scott supports construction of a White House ballroom but he doesn’t want taxpayers to pay for it.

“We need the ballroom and Democrats need to get over their Trump Derangement Syndrome and stop holding it up. We don’t need tax dollars for it because the project is already paid for with private funds,” Scott told The Hill in a statement.

“Let’s get this done — no one can argue there isn’t a critical, immediate need,” he said.

President Trump initially planned to pay for the construction of the ballroom, which will replace the White House’s former East Wing, with private donations.

But now a group of GOP senators led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is pushing a bill to authorize $400 million to build the ballroom along with an underground military facility and Secret Service annex in case of national emergency.

Graham and his partners, including Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), would offset the cost of the project with national park user fees and custom fees.

The South Carolina Republican said taxpayers should pay for the infrastructure and donors could pay for decor and furnishings.

“Underneath it will be a lot of military stuff. There will be a Secret Service annex and we pay for it by offsetting it with customs fees,” he said Monday at a press conference. “Private donations can be used but I think they should be used for buying [fine] china and stuff like that.”

Graham added that he talked to Trump about the proposal on Sunday and said the White House supports it.

Senate Republicans announced their plan to ask for a vote on the legislation to authorize $400 million for Trump’s project after a suspect armed with a shotgun and handgun tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Saturday.

Trump, Vice President Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and several Cabinet officials were at the dinner when Secret Service officers tackled the gunman near the stairs leading down to the Hilton ballroom after rushing past security.

“A meeting space that is secured on the White House grounds that would allow people to do what they did at the Hilton hotel is necessary,” Graham said. “I’m convinced that had there been a presidential ballroom adjacent to the White House, the guy would have never gotten in.”

This story was updated at 3:08 p.m.