Conflicting Republican Bills are Rushed to Rubber-Stamp Trump’s Ballroom for Billionaires
Congress must enforce oversight and transparency
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressional Republicans introduced multiple, conflicting bills to legalize President Trump’s White House Ballroom Project. Senator Lindsey Graham’s bill introduced today will pay for Trump’s Ballroom with $400 million in public money while Senator Rand Paul’s bill will reportedly permit anonymous private donors to pay for it.
In response, Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert said in a statement:
“Congressional Republicans’ failure to agree with each other on what they want to do undercuts their rush to rubber-stamp Trump’s shocking destruction of the White House East Wing and the shady funding scheme for his ballroom. Senator Graham’s bill diverting $400 million in public funds that could benefit every American to instead pay for a ballroom for billionaires is directly at odds with Trump’s repeated claim that it would be built at ‘ZERO cost to the American Taxpayer!’ Which is it?
“We support the call to hold a Congressional hearing on the ballroom project so the White House can finally be subject to oversight and be compelled to answer the many questions they’ve evaded such as revealing the names of all the anonymous donors they’ve taken money from and the details of how this scheme has been run.”