Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is calling for a congressional hearing on President Donald Trump’s security resources and arrangements following the Saturday night gunfire—in which a man was charged with trying to assassinate Trump—at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C.
“I believe it is necessary for the Committee to convene a hearing to assess the adequacy of presidential security arrangements and resources in the current threat environment. A hearing can review the degree to which post-Butler reforms have been implemented, the efficacy of interagency coordination and protocols, and the resource needs of all relevant agencies to sustain appropriate protection for the president and members of his Cabinet,” Hawley said in part.
The request for a hearing follows a slew of voices increasing pressure to back Trump’s new White House ballroom, which has faced legal headwinds over construction.
Why It Matters
The push followed Saturday’s gunfire near the Washington Hilton’s ballroom, prompting Secret Service agents to evacuate Trump and senior officials. Prosecutors later charged Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, with attempting to assassinate the president.
The incident renewed scrutiny of security for prominent presidential events and accelerated debate over a proposed $400 million White House ballroom that supporters say would harden venues and give the Secret Service greater control over protective environments.
What To Know
Taking to X on Monday, Hawley said, “The American people deserve full transparency following yet ANOTHER assassination attempt on President Trump’s life Congress should hold hearings immediately.” His post included photos of a letter addressed to Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, saying in part, “The American people deserve full transparency following yet another apparent assassination attempt of President Trump.”
The shooting on Saturday caused the event to be canceled and prompted Trump to hold a news conference that same night.
“I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s a much more secure. … It’s drone-proof, it’s bulletproof-glass. We did the ballroom, that’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military, are demanding it,” Trump said in part during the news conference.
Trump’s White House renovations in his second term have drawn national attention for their scale, cost and potential impact on the historic residence. His redesigns—from the Oval Office to the Rose Garden—along with the demolition of the East Wing to build a massive ballroom, have spurred debate over preservation, presidential authority and the role of private funding in altering federally protected landmarks.
Paul posted to X on Monday addressing the ballroom, saying, “I’m dropping a bill tomorrow. Let’s build the Ballroom.”
Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said he would not back a vote on the ballroom in the immediate, according to Semafor Congressional Bureau Chief Burgess Everett on X Monday.
“At this point? No. Obviously, a lot of questions about how much it costs, how many people will be accommodated. I understand the President’s proposal has a meeting space dramatically smaller than the Hilton Hotel. He said, after the terrible incident Saturday night, that we’d spare ourselves that kind of worry in the future with his ballroom,” Durbin said, per Everett. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t add up. So I have a lot of questions.”
Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania backed the ballroom, saying on X in part on Sunday, “drop the TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these.”
When asked if he thought current pressure could sway lawmakers who are against the ballroom construction, Grant Davis Reeher, professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek via email on Monday, “Not in this polarized environment. Nothing with Trump attached to it will get a majority consensus.
“If you go back and view Seth Meyers’s monologue at a WHCD [White House Correspondents Dinner] during the Obama era, at which he excoriates Trump for saying he was running for president, Meyers also makes fun of the fact that they are assembling all the top leadership of the country at a Hilton Hotel, so the problem is bi-partisan …. but not the Trump ballroom solution.”
What Happens Next
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Katie Britt and Eric Schmitt are holding a news conference on Monday evening to “unveil legislation to fund construction of the presidential ballroom in the East Wing of the @WhiteHouse,” Graham said on X in part.
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