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.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida is pushing back against assertions that the state’s new congressional map was drawn to help Republicans, arguing in a new legal filing that other states such as Virginia and Illinois have engaged in much more blatant partisan gerrymandering.

Voting rights and civil rights groups have filed multiple lawsuits challenging a new map pushed into law by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis. They have argued that the map, which could result in Republicans picking up four seats, is a clear violation of voter approved anti-gerrymandering standards and “one of the most extreme congressional maps” enacted in the past 50 years.

A circuit court judge will hold a hearing Friday on whether to temporarily block the new map and instead let the state’s old congressional map — which was also recommended by the DeSantis administration back in 2022 — be used for the midterms. The 2022 map gave Republicans a 20-8 edge.

Lawyers representing the state filed their response Wednesdayand made several arguments — some of them procedural — as to why the new map should be allowed to remain in place. They argue, for example, that it’s too close to the August primary to undo the map approved just two weeks ago.

But the 29-page filing also insists those challenging the map have produced “scant evidence” to back their claims.

“The claim of partisan favoritism is tethered only to maps showing the district lines overlayed onto the results of a few elections, hearsay from their supposed experts, thoughts about tweets, their perspective on Fox News coverage, and a single factual representation from the governor’s map drawer,” the lawyers for the governor and state wrote.

They also asserted that “finally, on its face, Florida’s map lacks the telltale signs of a partisan gerrymander” and contrasted that with maps put in place in Democratic states that include “blue spaghetti” and “partisan thunderbolts.”

Florida’s “Fair Districts” standards prohibit redrawing congressional districts for partisan gain or to help or hurt an incumbent. Democrats and other critics have insisted the new map is “illegal” because it violates these standards. The map, for example, reconfigured districts in the Tampa Bay and Orlando area — including splitting off Hispanic voters that had been in the district now held by Democratic Rep. Darren Soto.

The Florida Legislature approved the new map in late April just days after the DeSantis administration submitted it to lawmakers after it was given first to Fox News. During a legislative hearing, a top aide to the governor acknowledged he relied on partisan data.

But in a legal memorandum, the governor’s general counsel argued the state no longer needs to follow “Fair Districts” because of a state Supreme Court ruling on another portion of the amendment. That argument is also in the state’s filing that calls “Fair Districts” unconstitutional.

“The danger is apparent: Allowing a law to stumble along after a court has excised some of its component parts undermines the entire legislative scheme,” states the filing. “The danger becomes more acute when confronting language — as here — adopted by citizen initiative.”

The state’s legal filing further contends a trial is needed first to establish where there is proof that the map was drawn for partisan gain. The state’s lawyers argue top aide Jason Poreda was never asked what types of partisan data he used or how it was used. They also dispute findings from experts about the potential outcomes of the new map.

President Donald Trump and the White House first started urging GOP-led states to engage in mid-decade redistricting last year. Shortly afterward, DeSantis began calling for changes in Florida’s map as well. He said that one South Florida district relied on racial considerations that were likely to be ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court and the state’s population has grown in the past few years. The new map, however, still relies on the same Census data that was used in 2022.

Sen. John Kennedy said Wednesday that he plans to vote for landmark cryptocurrency legislation in the Senate Banking Committee this week, clearing the way for the bill to advance whether it wins bipartisan backing or not.

“This is not a perfect bill,” the Louisiana Republican told reporters Wednesday. “But it’s a good bill, and it’s a good start.”

Kennedy has been a major question mark for months on the crypto bill, as he has raised concerns about both the substance and the process surrounding the legislation. But he said Wednesday that he secured several changes to the new text — including the inclusion of language “creating fiduciary responsibility for participants in the crypto industry” and an unrelated housing bill he co-leads called the Build Now Act.

“It’s time to urinate or get off the pot,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy will still be a key figure to watch at the markup: He said Wednesday he plans to “consider all the amendments” that are brought up, leaving the door open to supporting what could be controversial changes to the legislation.