U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Republican from Montana, is one of at least three members of Congress who responded to the shooting at the White House Press Correspondents' dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, calling on lawmakers to approve plans for a ballroom at the White House.
President Donald J. Trump, a Republican, tore down the East Wing of the White House without proper approval and began plans to build a large ballroom that some critics said would dwarf the remainder of the White House. In addition to plans for a large ballroom for public events and official state visits, details about the plans have been slowly trickling from the White House, including plans to update a military-style operations bunker for emergencies as well as medical facilities there.
Trump has said repeatedly that no taxpayer funds would be used to build the ballroom, even as the price tag for the construction has continued to escalate and several lawsuits from historic preservation groups have been filed.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, has been identified as the suspected shooter who shot a federal agent at the dinner in the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. The President and First Lady, Melania Trump, were whisked away safely.
After the incident, Sheehy posted on X (formerly “Twitter”) that he would be introducing legislation to lend Congress’ support for the ballroom construction, saying it was a matter of security and safety for the President and other national leaders.
Sheehy said he would try to approve the measure by “unanimous consent,” which is a parliamentary procedure that would require the approval of all 100 U.S. Senators, something that appears unlikely in the deeply divided Congress as it heads into a heated election season.
Sheehy was not the only lawmaker to call for a more secure option, namely the ballroom. Fellow U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, who often votes with Republicans ,signaled his support for approving the ballroom. So did U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas.
“It is an embarrassment to the strongest nation on earth that we cannot host gatherings in our nation’s capital, including ones attended by our President, without the threat of violence and attempted assassinations,” Sheehy said.
On Monday, several notable Republicans including Sens. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky had introduced legislation supporting the ballroom and funding it at taxpayer expense.
The Daily Montanan reached out to Sheehy’s office, which put out a press release on Sunday repeating the call for legislation via unanimous consent, but the office did not respond. The Daily Montanan inquired about the timeline for the legislation, and how such a measure would interact with the plans surrounding the ballroom as well as the legal processes.
“There is no place for political violence in America. Unfortunately, it seems, too many people believe trying to kill our President and members of our government is acceptable. A President of any party should be able to host events in a secure area without attendees worrying about their safety. This is common sense. Let’s get it done,” Sheehy said as part of his statement.
For his part, Trump took to social media on Sunday to use the event in order to emphasize his plans for the White House ballroom.
“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great military, Secret Service, law enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump said on his own social media site, Truth Social, on Sunday morning. “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White HOuse. It cannot be built fast enough!”
States Newsroom Washington D.C. Bureau reporter Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.
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