Republicans seek congressional boost for White House ballroom after Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

WASHINGTON (CN) — Congressional Republicans said on Monday they would introduce legislation this week to fast-track approval of President Donald Trump’s much-vaunted White House ballroom, pointing to the weekend shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner as proof the nation’s capital lacks secure event space.

The effort, championed by lawmakers in both the House and Senate, comes just days after a would-be assassin sprinted through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton not far from where Trump, administration officials and members of the media were gathered for the annual political gala.

Officials say Cole Allen, 31, was subdued by law enforcement steps from the security cordon and one Secret Service agent was injured in the attack. The president and his allies argue the incident shows other event spaces in the nation’s capital are not equipped to handle such threats.

“It’s not a particularly secure building,” Trump told reporters at the White House minutes after being rushed from the dinner. “I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House.”

The president wants to build a 90,000 square foot ballroom on the eastern side of the White House. He’s couched the project in national security interests, pointing to an underground bunker and other critical facilities to also be constructed beneath the enormous event space.

But while construction crews have already demolished the existing East Wing of the executive residence, a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from building the ballroom itself, arguing the president did not have authority to undertake such a project without an act of Congress.

Now, following the weekend’s shooting at the Correspondents’ Dinner, congressional Republicans are angling to give Trump exactly that.

Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert said in a post on X Sunday afternoon she is drafting legislation to ensure the White House ballroom is built. “I don’t believe congressional approval is required for the project, but if it’ll keep activist judges on the sideline, so be it,” she wrote.

Boebert has slammed U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, for his ruling in the ballroom case, claiming he sided with a “liberal dog walker” over the Trump administration in his move to halt construction. The Colorado Republican was referring to Alison Hoagland, an architectural historian whose National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States sued to stop the ballroom project.

As of Monday morning, Boebert has yet to unveil text of her proposed legislation and it’s unclear when she might do so — though she said Sunday there would be “more to come” this week. A spokesperson for her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Over in the Senate, Montana Senator Tim Sheehy said he would mount his own effort this week to get congressional approval for the East Wing ballroom.

Sheehy said he would attempt to pass such legislation on the Senate floor via a process known as unanimous consent, a procedural fast track allowing senators to pass measures by voice vote. He cited the Correspondents’ Dinner shooting as the impetus for his unanimous consent push.

“It is an embarrassment to the strongest nation on earth that we cannot host gatherings in our nation’s capital, including ones attended by our president, without the threat of violence and attempted assassinations,” the Montana Republican said in a statement. “A president of any party should be able to host events in a secure area without attendees worrying about their safety. This is common sense. Let’s get it done.”

In the Senate, unanimous consent requests such as the one proposed by Sheehy are easily blocked by the minority party, who can object to any such motion and instantly strike it down. It’s unlikely that Democrats will support any push to hand Trump congressional approval for his proposed ballroom on a voice vote.

Other lawmakers, meanwhile, have floated the idea that Republicans could work language greenlighting the ballroom into the forthcoming budget reconciliation process, a move that may allow the GOP to approve the project without Democratic input. But it’s unclear whether such a provision would adhere to stringent Senate rules restricting the types of measures that can be tacked onto reconciliation.

Any successful effort to approve the proposed ballroom in Congress would likely nullify the lawsuit currently halting its construction. But even if the Trump administration were able to finish building the massive event space, there’s no guarantee the White House Correspondents’ Association — a private entity not affiliated with the government — would host a future gala at that location.

Meanwhile, the suspected Correspondents’ Dinner shooter is set to be arraigned Monday in federal court. According to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, authorities believe Allen, a California resident, traveled cross-country by train to Washington and checked into the Washington Hilton the day before the shooting.

Officials say Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives when he attempted to breach the gala’s security checkpoint Saturday night. The suspect was subdued by law enforcement after a brief shootout, during which a Secret Service agent sustained minor injuries. In messages sent to his family moments before the shooting, the would-be assassin reportedly said he was targeting Trump administration officials.

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