Pentagon Transfers $1 Billion In Funding For Trump’s Border Wall

Democratic lawmakers have slammed the move as undermining military readiness and a violation of congressional appropriations.

The Pentagon notified Congress on Monday that it transferred $1 billion in military personnel funding to construct President Donald Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a memo addressed to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, Patrick Shanahan, the acting defense secretary, said he authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin planning and building 57 miles of fencing along the southwestern border, as well as improving roads in Yuma, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas, CNN reported.

Democratic lawmakers were swift in their rebuke of the Pentagon chief’s move. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released a statement Tuesday saying the committee has denied the Department of Defense’s request to reallocate the money for the wall.

“This needs to stop. Based on the unfunded requests received for the Fiscal Year 2020 budget and the issues raised by the Marine Corps, there are obviously more pressing issues with readiness and modernization that these funds could – and more importantly should – go to,” his statement read. “Instead of focusing on readiness, hurricane recovery and other genuine issues, the administration continues to spend billions of dollars on an imaginary crisis.”

In a separate letter to Shanahan on Monday, a group of Democratic senators led by Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Richard Durbin of Illinois objected to the transfer of funds, which they described as a violation of congressional appropriations.