An internal dispute could derail Republicans’ goal of funding immigration operations for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s presidency. 

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told his colleagues that he would not support the GOP’s $72 billion reconciliation package if it included $1 billion in funding for Trump’s ballroom. 

His defection, along with a handful of other Republicans critical of the funding, could sink the bill. 

SENATE REPUBLICANS BALK AT $1B WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM REQUEST: ‘YOU MADE THAT NUMBER UP’

And given the GOP’s narrow margin in the upper chamber, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., can’t afford Republicans to break from the party line.

Tillis’ opposition, which was first reported by Axios and confirmed by a source familiar to Fox News Digital, alone isn’t enough to torpedo the package meant to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years. 

But others, including Sens. John Curtis, R-Utah, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., aren’t thrilled with the funding. 

Republicans were briefed by Secret Service Director Sean Curran last week on the funding, which included $220 million for «White House complex hardening.»

REPUBLICANS SLIP $1 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY FOR TRUMP BALLROOM SECURITY IN ICE, BORDER PATROL PACKAGE

That would fund «above and below ground» security enhancements for Trump’s ballroom, which the administration argued would «afford needed protection for the president, his family, and visitors, along with the below-ground, highest-level security functions,» according to an itemized readout obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Those enhancements would include bulletproof glass, drone detection technology, chemical filtration and detection systems and «a host of other national security functions.» 

An additional $180 million would go toward a White House screening center for visitors. The remaining $600 million would go toward Secret Service training, enhancing protection for Trump and other officials, and other security measures including countering drones and other aerial incursions.

But a saving grace for Republicans could be the Senate referee’s ruling that funding for the ballroom should get yanked from the package. 

In order for budget reconciliation to pause the 60-vote threshold and pass under a simple majority of votes, the package has to comply with the Senate’s strict Byrd Rule. Senate Democrats pushed for the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to strip out the funding, and they were successful.

SEVERAL PROVISIONS FAIL TO PASS MUSTER WITH SENATE RULES IN ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump join the royal couple for a photo in front of a model of the new presidential ballroom at the White House. (Aaron Chown/AFP via Getty Images)

McDonough ruled over the weekend that, given the complexity and scale of the ballroom project, it would involve the coordination of «many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees. As drafted, the provision inappropriately funds activities outside the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.»

Thune said that Republicans had learned a lot from the parliamentarian’s rulings last year when they were crafting the «big, beautiful bill,» and that the process is a «give-and-take.» 

But still, it’s full steam ahead for the GOP to try and advance the package by the end of the week. 

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«I think that if we can get it done, we should get it done,» Thune said. «I’m always somebody who believes, especially around here, you want to strike while the iron’s hot, and I think if we, if we’re ready to go, the committees have acted, and we’re in a good place with parliamentarian, and we’ve got, you know, decent attendance here, then I think we want to try and wrap this up.»

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, lauded the ruling, but noted that Republicans would likely try to find a way to work the funding back in. 

«We cannot let Republicans waste our national treasure on a mission of chaos and corruption while turning a blind eye to the needs of the American people,» Merkley said.

A close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been deported by Venezuela to the United States, according to Venezuelan officials, to face federal charges accusing him of orchestrating a sweeping money laundering and bribery scheme tied to Venezuela’s state-run food program and oil industry.

Alex Nain Saab Moran, 55, of Colombia, a former minister of industry and national production under the Maduro regime, appeared in federal court in Miami Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The Justice Department said Saab is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors allege Saab led a yearslong scheme beginning around 2015 to defraud a humanitarian program intended to provide food to impoverished Venezuelans.

He and his co-conspirators later allegedly sold billions of dollars’ worth of Venezuelan state-owned oil while circumventing U.S. sanctions, according to the Justice Department. Authorities say the proceeds were routed through U.S. bank accounts in an effort to conceal the transactions and further advance the scheme.

MADURO ALLY ALEX SAAB ARRESTED IN JOINT US-VENEZUELAN OPERATION, OFFICIAL SAYS

«Alex Saab allegedly used American banks to launder hundreds of millions of dollars stolen from a Venezuelan food program meant for the poor and proceeds from the illegal sale of Venezuelan oil,» Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said in a statement. «This is unacceptable. The Criminal Division will not allow foreign actors to exploit the American financial system and use it as a safe haven for the proceeds of their corruption.» 

Beginning around 2015, Saab and his associates allegedly paid bribes to Venezuelan government officials to secure contracts tied to the country’s CLAP welfare program, which was intended to purchase and distribute food to vulnerable and impoverished Venezuelans. 

Instead of delivering the promised food supplies, prosecutors allege the group used shell companies, fraudulent invoices and falsified shipping records to embezzle hundreds of millions of dollars from the program for their own personal gain.

TREASURY TARGETS OIL TRADERS, TANKERS ACCUSED OF HELPING MADURO EVADE U.S. SANCTIONS

Businessman Alex Saab walks through Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Around 2019, as sweeping U.S. sanctions crippled Venezuela’s oil exports and placed severe strain on the country’s finances, including its ability to pay Saab and his associates under the CLAP program, Saab and his partners allegedly exploited their corrupt ties to government officials to gain access to billions of dollars’ worth of oil owned by Venezuela’s state-run oil company. 

Officials allege the group sold the oil under false pretenses and used the profits to sustain and expand the original food fraud scheme.

Saab and his associates reportedly laundered the allegedly stolen funds through U.S. bank accounts in an effort to conceal the money trail, giving American authorities jurisdiction to prosecute the case.

«When illicit proceeds are moved through the United States financial system, our courts have jurisdiction and our prosecutors will act,» U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) shakes hands with Colombian-born businessman Alex Saab in Caracas on January 15, 2024. (FEDERICO PARRA/AFP)

Saab was previously indicted in the U.S. in 2019 and extradited from Cabo Verde in 2021. He was pardoned by President Biden in 2023 as part of a prisoner swap, though prosecutors say the new case involves alleged conduct not covered by that pardon.

A Miami-based attorney for Saab declined to comment to The Associated Press.

If convicted, Saab faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The government is also seeking forfeiture of any property or proceeds allegedly obtained through the alleged criminal activity.

The case was investigated by a U.S. Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Testimony from a policy analyst at a libertarian think tank was unexpectedly highlighted by immigration hawks after he delivered an opening statement at a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing featuring controversial Fairfax County prosecutor Stephen Descano.

The hearing, chaired by Rep. Thomas McClintock, R-Calif., examined several examples of allegedly lax prosecutions by Descano involving illegal immigrants with prior rap sheets — including a Sierra Leone national accused of murdering a young woman at a bus stop on U.S. 1.

In his opening remarks, Cato Institute immigration expert David Bier testified that the «way to fix Fairfax» is not to continue the «mass deportation» agenda of President Donald Trump.

«The first step would be to give up on the mass deportation fantasy,» Bier said.

SOROS-BACKED PROSECUTOR SET FOR CAPITOL HILL GRILLING AS SANCTUARY POLICIES FACE RECKONING

«About 1-in-5 Fairfax residents is someone who could be deported or who lives with them — It would destroy neighborhoods, rip Americans away from their spouses, parents, friends, families, customers, employees, employers, nurses, nannies, and teachers.»

While Bier later added that he believes noncitizens who harm Americans should be deported, his earlier statement drew the attention of several immigration hawks, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

Lee borrowed Bier’s logic to prove immigration hardliners’ point that mass deportation is the right solution:

«On the contrary: 20% of a wealthy DC suburb being illegal immigrants means we should redouble our efforts to deport them all,» Lee said.

Bier responded to Lee’s comments in a lengthy statement to Fox News Digital, arguing the Utah Republican failed to explain why mass deportation would benefit Americans in Fairfax County.

«What was the senator’s explanation for [his] statement? The senator never says why it would benefit the country to harm Fairfax County and the Americans who live there, so there’s nothing to rebut,» Bier said.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS VIEW LEGAL IMMIGRATION AS HELPFUL, FAVOR DEPORTING THOSE WHO ARE HERE ILLEGALLY

Cato Institute analyst David Bier testifies before Congress. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images)

«The senator is wrong to characterize the 20% as all illegal immigrants since half of them are just people who live with illegal immigrants, which is precisely my point.»

«Mass deportation would harm those Americans and many others by ripping them away from their spouses, parents, children, friends, family, employees, employers, customers, nurses, nannies, and teachers,» the immigration expert added.

Bier said mass deportation becomes more expensive and impractical as the population of illegal immigrants grows, meaning continuing on the current course will harm Americans.

«I would ask the senator: how many Americans would have to be hurt by mass deportation before he would reconsider his views?»

Reached for additional comment, Lee spokesman Billy Gribbin told Fox News Digital that the Utahn «believes in enforcing US law and deporting illegal immigrants — not making excuses for criminals who hurt Americans.»

Fox News Digital also asked DHS about the apparent statistical admission, and an agency spokesperson blamed Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s «reckless sanctuary policies» for making Fairfax and the rest of the Old Dominion a «hotbed for illegal alien criminals.»

«The stories of the victims and facts speak for themselves. The sanctuary politicians of Fairfax County have blood on their hands,» the spokesperson said.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin added separately that half the murders recorded recently in Fairfax were allegedly perpetrated by «illegals who shouldn’t have been in our country to begin with.»

«We have politicians who want to protect the criminals, President Trump is still protecting all of our neighborhoods,» Mullin said.

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Bier’s 1-in-5 statistic was also cited in a CATO document footnoted to the K Street firm Migration Policy Institute. MPI’s data showed an estimated 102,000-person «unauthorized» population in Fairfax — which has a census count of about 1.2 million as of 2020.

The top «countries-of-birth» on MPI’s list in that regard were El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia and Peru, while only 4% combined was recorded from Canada, Europe and Oceania.