ICYMI: Ranking Member Heinrich on Supreme Court Allowing Continued Construction for President Trump’s Ballroom

MEMORANDUM

To: Reporters and Editors

From: Caty Payette, Office of U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)

Date: August 24, 2026

Re: ICYMI: Ranking Member Heinrich on Supreme Court Allowing Continued Construction for President Trump's Ballroom

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, published the following post online, reacting to the news that the Supreme Court has allowed President Trump to continue construction for his $400 million ballroom:

"This doesn't change the fact that Congress never authorized spending YOUR hard-earned taxpayer dollars on Trump's golden ballroom.

"I'll keep fighting to ensure taxpayers aren't footing the bill for Trump's vanity projects while the cost of everyday expenses continues to soar."

Ranking Member Heinrich has led the fight to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to fund President Trump's ballroom.

Earlier this month, Heinrich sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Acting Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown, calling for the GAO to audit and assess the full scope and cost of the White House ballroom project.

In June, Heinrich sent a letter demanding answers from U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on the Trump administration redirecting tens of millions of dollars from fees paid to the National Park Service (NPS) to fund President Trump's vanity projects in Washington, D.C. - including redirecting funds collected at New Mexico sites such as Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Bandelier National Monument.

In May, Heinrich?successfully blocked Senate Republicans from funding Trump's ballroom project through their partisan reconciliation budget bill, arguing it violated the Byrd Rule - a Senate rule designed to prevent unrelated policy provisions from being jammed into reconciliation bills that can pass with a simple majority instead of the usual 60-vote threshold.

Last October, Heinrich demanded that President Trump follow the rule of law and for Congress to have oversight over the demolition of the East Wing of the White House and the ongoing construction of the ballroom in its place.

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