NYC Congress members urge federal funding for Trump security in city

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of New York City's congressional delegation on Tuesday said they were pressing Republican congressional leaders to add $35 million to a year-end federal spending bill to reimburse the city for President-elect Donald Trump's security costs. At a Capitol Hill news conference, John Miller, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, said he was in contact with congressional Democrats and Republicans about the costs of security operations to protect Trump both before and after the Republican takes office on Jan. 20. "This is not about party politics. It's not about politics at all," Miller said. He said Trump's security "footprint" would be even "more complex" once he becomes president than during the current period when he is waiting to take office. Representative Nita Lowey, a Democrat, said that the Republican leadership of the House Appropriations committee had expressed sympathy for the city's pre-inauguration reimbursement request but had asked for more specifics. The House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on a key year-end spending measure late on Tuesday, but as of Tuesday afternoon the bill did not contain funding for Trump's security. Several House Democrats on Tuesday also signed a letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urging that the state and city "refuse to pay" for Trump's extra New York security costs once he is sworn in as president. "Should the President-Elect choose to maintain two permanent residences for his family, it is reasonable to request he reimburse the city and the state for all additional security expenses from his own significant personal financial resources," the letter said. Trump has said his wife, Melania and son, Barron, will remain in New York until Barron has finished school. (Reporting By Mark Hosenball in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)