Senate Republican Leaders Hold News Conference

C-SPAN: During a news conference on the Republican legislative agenda, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) took questions on the Secret Service requesting $1 billion for security for President Trump’s new ballroom, as well as Trump wanting to pause the federal gas tax amid the ongoing Iran conflict. Thune said the Secret Service “did a very good job” of explaining the case for why the money was needed for the ballroom, and that Republicans were “willing to hear” Trump’s case for pausing the gas tax. Thune also said work would begin the following week on Republican goals to pass a bill on Homeland Security Department funding via the reconciliation process. Budget reconciliation is a special parliamentary procedure in the Senate that allows fiscal legislation to pass with a simple majority of 51 votes rather than the 60 votes normally required to break a filibuster.