A group of Senate Republicans led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are pushing a bill to fund the construction of a secure 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House and say the project is essential to national security after a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday.
Graham and his allies say the cost of the project would be offset by national park user fees and customs fees, and that the bill would authorize the construction of national security-related infrastructure below the ballroom, including an annex for the Secret Service.
“It’s very difficult to have a bunch of important people in the same place unless it’s really, really secure. The times in which we live are unusual. I’ve been up here for a while now, I’ve never felt the sense of threat that exists today,” said Graham, who was first elected to the House in 1994.
He noted that in addition to President Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who are second and third in the presidential line of succession, were at the dinner Saturday when a 31-year-old man armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives tried to break into the ballroom before being tackled by Secret Service personnel.
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