Ballroom security can’t be privately funded, Mullin tells GOP lawmakers

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Republican lawmakers Wednesday that Congress needs to fund security aspects of President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project because the Secret Service is prohibited from using private funds for that purpose, according to four people who heard the remarks.

Mullin’s comments to a meeting of the Republican Governance Group came as the Trump administration is pressing GOP lawmakers to approve $1 billion in new Secret Service funding, as much as $220 million of which could fund parts of the controversial ballroom project.

His claim of a legal prohibition on private funding for security upgrades represents a new argument put forth by the administration. Trump has repeatedly insisted that the $400 million ballroom project will be financed by private donors.

Asked about the argument as he left the meeting Wednesday, Mullin declined to answer and replied, “I gotta go.” A DHS spokesperson declined to comment on the legal foundations for the claim.

Mullin’s visit to the group of centrist Republicans was aimed to quell GOP concerns about the $1 billion security request, which has threatened to derail a larger package of funding for immigration enforcement agencies. White House legislative affairs director James Braid also attended the meeting.

Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) and other Republicans holding at-risk seats pressed Mullin for a breakdown of the $220 million that will be focused on White House security, including for the new ballroom, according to the four people in the room who were granted anonymity to describe the private meeting.

Mullin said he did not have a more finely grained breakdown but that lawmakers would get one soon, the people present said.