Pentagon to divert $3.6B....
Pentagon to divert $3.6B in funds from
various projects toward border wall
By Ben Feuerherd - September 3, 2019
The defense secretary on Tuesday approved a border-wall spending plan that will divert funds from more than 100 military construction projects to earmark $3.6 billion for constructing a wall on the southern border with Mexico.
The plan to allocate money for the border wall will take funds from some 127 existing military projects, according to the Pentagon. It’s not clear which projects will be affected.
The existing plans are being “deferred,” not canceled, said Pentagon Comptroller Elaine McCusker, but there is no guarantee that Congress will vote to replenish the now under-funded projects.
In a letter to Congress announcing the spending plan, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he “determined that 11 military construction projects along the international border with Mexico, with an estimated total cost of $3.6 billion, are necessary to support the use of the armed forces in connection with the national emergency.”
President Trump declared a national emergencyin February so he could use military funds to construct the wall that he promised during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s plan to use military funds for the wall touched off a fervent debate between Republican supporters and Democratic opponents, who said the plan would “cannibalize” military projects.
“It is a slap in the face to the members of the Armed Forces who serve our country that President Trump is willing to cannibalize already allocated military funding to boost his own ego and for a wall he promised Mexico would pay to build,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said of the option.
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