Senator Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has announced an alternative proposal that will authorize the White House ballroom project without requiring taxpayer funding.
Paul said he will offer a unanimous consent request on Tuesday to pass his legislation. “My bill cuts through the unnecessary legal delays getting in the way of the East Wing Modernization project,” he said.
The announcement comes in the wake of a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday night that has intensified Republican support for the controversial construction project.
Shooting at Correspondents’ Dinner
On the evening of April 25, 2026, gunshots were fired near the main security screening area for the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and members of the Cabinet were evacuated by the Secret Service.
It was the first White House Correspondents’ Dinner that Trump had attended as a sitting president. Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, who was arrested near the screening area outside the banquet hall.
Federal prosecutors formally charged the alleged gunman with three counts on Monday, including attempting to assassinate the president. Cole Allen, 31, made his first appearance in federal court.
Multiple GOP Bills Emerge
Republican lawmakers are suddenly interested in authorizing — and potentially even funding — the $400 million ballroom project after a would-be assassin crashed the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday.
A group of Senate Republicans is proposing a bill to authorize $400 million in federal funds for the construction of a White House ballroom. Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado said she planned to propose legislation this week that would give the go-ahead for the project.
One Democrat, Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, also called for his colleagues to support funding for the ballroom project.
Legal Battle Continues
Construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom has been slowed by a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, but a federal appeals court recently overruled a lower court injunction that placed a hold on some of the work.
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in a statement, “We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the Administration to follow the law.”
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon concluded that the lawsuit was likely to succeed because “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.” He wrote that “The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!”
Project Background
The National Capital Planning Commission voted 8-1 to approve the plans for the new 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom, despite the federal judge’s ruling that the project requires Congressional approval.
The administration began demolishing the East Wing in October to make room for the new ballroom, which is expected to seat 1,000 guests and cost at least $300 million.
The ballroom, which is being funded by private donors, is slated to be completed by 2028. Trump told reporters about his administration’s plans to upgrade the FDR-era bunker: “The military is building a big complex under the ballroom.” He added that the ballroom “essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under.”
Paul is a member of the National Capital Planning Commission that gave its approval to the project earlier this month.