GOP Ballroom and ICE Bill Would Add $72 Billion To Deficit
Source: Huff Post
May 6, 2026, 11:23 AM EDT
WASHINGTON — The budget package Senate Republicans unveiled late Monday to fund federal immigration enforcement and President Donald Trump’s proposed White House ballroom will increase deficits by nearly $72 billion over the next 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO issued its estimate a day after the GOP released a spending package stuffed with tens of billions of dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, billions more for Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement and an astounding $1 billion for Trump’s ballroom plan, a vanity project he wants to build in place of the former East Wing, which he demolished last year.
The $72 billion estimate mirrors the level of spending in the Republican package. The amount added to the deficit jumps to about $94 billion when you factor in interest, says the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. In its analysis of the GOP package, CRFB notes the legislation’s “lack of guardrails” over when this money is appropriated, which could mean billions of dollars in taxpayer money is spent more quickly than anticipated by agencies like ICE or CBP, which would create a demand for still more money.
“Of further concern,” CRFP states, “at least $7.5 billion of the total … appears to be above and beyond normal appropriations.”. It points to the package’s $5 billion for DHS to use at its discretion, $1.5 billion for the attorney general to use at his discretion and the $1 billion set aside for the Secret Service to use for vague security measures related to Trump’s ballroom project.
Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-ballroom-ice-72-billion-deficit_n_69fb534ae4b01c0d1112f7df?origin=home-latest-news-unit
Link to CBO REPORT - CBO Scores FY 2026 Reconciliation at $72 Billion
REFERENCES
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143648100
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143653902
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143654231
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143655185
When Congress does "Budget Reconciliation" legislation, where it's a framework document (for up to 10 years) that would have numbers plugged in, they have the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) "score" it for costs.
There are 3 types available - "taxes" (revenue), "spending" (outlays), and "debt" (debt ceiling). EACH type can ONLY be used ONCE during a fiscal year (Oct. 1 - Sep.30). These can be done singly or in a combo of 2 types or all 3 (but you can't do something like 3 "spending" ones in a fiscal year). And they must be budget-related, meaning no "policy" stuff stuck on (er the Byrd Rule).
For the "spending" type, they are looking to see whether it increases the deficit (like this would do per the OP article), which is a no-no when using this process. In fact the last paragraph at the above link notes this -
To avoid potential increases in the debt and put a down payment on deficit reduction, policymakers should remove extraneous provisions from the bill and fully offset the funding in this bill. They should also put in place discretionary spending caps that account for this mandatory spending and work to further reduce deficits.
For the GOP, "offset" means doing Muskrat-level slashing of programs to make up for the wasteful spending on bullshit ballrooms and arches.
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