Wary of the terrible election-year optics, some federal Republican legislators are less-than-enthusiastic about approving a request for a billion dollars in security funding relating to President Trump's White House ballroom project. Some of them shared those feelings with reporters after they received a Tuesday afternoon closed-door briefing by Secret Service Director Sean Curran. 

When he first rolled out the 90,000-square-foot ballroom project, Trump repeatedly emphasized that the project would cost $200 million and be funded entirely with private donations. Now the ballroom itself is projected to cost $400 million -- still privately-funded -- but with another $1 billion in federal funding being poured into security provisions.

“I think the timing and the optics are really bad,” North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters Monday. “This time last year, roughly, maybe a little bit before, we were all impressed with the fact that this $400 million building was going to be paid for out of the generosity of donors, and now we’re hearing 2½ times that is necessary for some other aspect of the project.” The ballroom funds are supposed to be part of the ICE and Border Patrol bill that's considered as a GOP must-have. 

In his briefing to legislators, Curran provided an itemization of the big-ticket items comprising that $1 billion request. “He walked through the various categories,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. “So it was a good back-and-forth, a good discussion, and obviously we had a lot of questions that were asked by our colleagues, just to get the details and precision as much as possible about how dollars will be used.”

According to the Washington Post, the categories include: 

• $200 million for "hardening" the party room, from both above and below; finishes include bulletproof glass, and systems to detect chemical weapons and drones
• $180 million for a new White House visitor-screening setup
• $175 million for training Secret Service agents and improving "protectee security"
• $150 million to ward off "emerging threats" to include bioweapons and airborne attacks
• $100 million to secure high-profile national events

Following the briefing, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, who routinely votes as Trump wishes, was non-committal. “I still got some more questions, and they’re going to send us more information...I'm undecided." Similarly, Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, said he has "a lot" of questions of his own, adding that "One of the biggest concerns on our side is adding to the deficit." 

Others were more candid. "Not happening here," said Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, when asked if the House was likely to approve the funding. Asked if he'd personally vote for it, he gave reporters a blunt "no." Asked about how the price tag looks to Americans being hammered at the gas pump by the fruits of the Trump-Netanyahu war on Iran, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski replied, "Not good." 

The ballroom project increasingly seems like a midyear election gift from a tone-deaf Trump administration to Democratic candidates across the nation. In a recent poll, Americans oppose it by a lopsided 56%-to-28% margin. More than the cost itself, it's the juxtaposition of what looks like a vanity project against increasing financial hardships being imposed on everyday Americans by the war on Iran and Trump's tariffs.  

On Tuesday, Trump handed more such campaign fodder to Democrats when -- asked if Americans' financial woes were a motivator for making a peace deal with Iran -- Trump said, "Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation." Though he was clearly trying to emphasize the (dubious) security narrative behind the war, his failure to express empathy for struggling families turned his remark into a political weapon.