The billion-dollar request for the Secret Service isn't dead. But it is in doubt.

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the White House face a long week to learn if 50 Republicans — and the Senate parliamentarian — will sign off on the new funding as part of the $72 billion ICE and Border Patrol reconciliation package.

😩 Why it matters: Senate Republicans are struggling to get comfortable with the proposed $220 million request to "harden" security at the White House complex — including President Trump's new East Wing ballroom.

• They were unmoved by a line-item lobbying effort from Secret Service director Sean Curran in a closed-door lunch today, as we scooped earlier.
• "One of the biggest concerns on our side is adding to the deficit," Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters. Kennedy is preparing an amendment to trim the broader $72 billion ICE and Border Patrol package by $1 billion to offset the security funding.
• "It's not my favorite thing," Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told HuffPost.

🚔 Zoom in: Curran broke the proposed $1 billion request into six categories, including $180 million for a new White House visitor screening facility and $100 million for security at "high-profile national events."

• Thune sought to downplay the ballroom component, arguing that security tied to the East Wing expansion "represents about 20% of what this request was."
• "The ballroom is being financed privately," he said.

🛑 The other side: Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) plans to offer amendments during next week's vote-a-rama to strip funding for the East Wing security upgrades.

• "I call on my Republican colleagues to redirect this funding toward supporting our law enforcement and investing in public safety instead of Trump's ballroom," Rosen said in a statement.
• "Americans don't want a ballroom blitz," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. "They want Congress to bring the cost down."

— Hans Nichols

Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) faces a growing call from Democrats to resign over what they say is her agreement with a radio host's derogatory comments about House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Why it matters: The firestorm comes as Kiggans, who has denied any wrongdoing, is running for reelection in one of the most hotly contested battleground districts in the country.

• More than a dozen House Democrats — including Jeffries' top two lieutenants — had called for Kiggans to resign as of this afternoon, with others vowing to unseat her in November either way.
• Kiggans said in a post on X: "The radio host should not have used that language and I do not -and did not - condone it. It was obvious to anyone listening that I was agreeing Hakeem Jefferies [sic] should stay out of Virginia."

‼️ House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters: "Sometimes people misspeak. ... I'll talk to her about it, but you should not be evaluating the character of Jen Kiggans based on some comment that supposedly she said."

• The controversy centers on an interview Kiggans gave to Richmond-based radio host Brandon Herrera on Democrats' thwarted effort to redistrict Virginia's congressional map in their favor.
• Said Herrera: "If Hakeem Jeffries wants to be involved in Virginia politics, then I suggest he ... leave New York, move down here to Virginia, run for office down here, you can represent us. If not, get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia."
• "That's right. Ditto. Yes. Yes, to that," Kiggans replied.

State of play: Jeffries' No. 2 and No. 3 in Democratic leadership, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and House Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), called for Kiggans to step down last night.

• They were joined by the Congressional Black Caucus and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Black Caucus PAC, who told us he agreed with Clark that Kiggans should step down.
• Jeffries spokesperson Christie Stephenson did not go as far as to call on Kiggans to resign, saying in a statement, "Jen Kiggans ... apparently craves a return to the days of Jim Crow racial oppression in the South."

The other side: Kiggans said in her post on X, "This is precisely what's wrong with Democrats. Every lie and distortion is intended to distract from getting their hats handed to them and the Virginia Supreme Court's clear message: stop trying to rig our elections."

• Said NRCC spokesperson Will Kiley: "Democrats' performative outrage over this total nothing-burger is completely selective and driven by politics, not principle."

— Andrew Solender