1. United States
2. Tenn.
3. Letter

Vote no on the Graham-Britt-Schmitt legislation to fund President Trump's proposed White House ballroom with federal dollars. This $300 million vanity project was supposed to be privately funded. Now taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill under the guise of security concerns. The White House already has secure venues for events. If security is genuinely the issue, invest in protection measures that don't require demolishing the East Wing and building a massive ballroom. The National Trust filed a lawsuit because Congress never authorized this construction in the first place. Rather than addressing that legal problem, this bill tries to bypass it by throwing federal money at the project. We need leaders who will stand up to wasteful spending, not rubber-stamp it. Three hundred million dollars could fund real security improvements across federal facilities, support veterans programs, or stay in taxpayers' pockets. Instead, it's being redirected to a ballroom so one person can host parties without leaving his house. That's not leadership. That's indulgence at public expense. Vote no.