Analysis: Trump’s ballroom is becoming a political boondoggle | CNN Politics

For months, President Donald Trump has suggested that outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might have committed a crime because the cost of renovating the Fed’s headquarters increased by about 30% on his watch. But the cost of Trump’s own prized renovation — the White House ballroom — has increased even more, as a percentage of his original estimate. And it’s looking more and more like Trump wasn’t telling the truth when he said the project would involve “no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.” The big news Monday was that the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee has requested $1 billion in funding that could go to security related to the $400 million ballroom. The money, which is tucked into an expected party-line bill that is otherwise focused on immigration enforcement, is designated for “security adjustments and upgrades.” The security uses “include” work on the White House grounds “to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project.” (The East Wing Modernization Project is the name for the replacement of the East Wing with Trump’s ballroom.) That doesn’t mean all $1 bill