The border projects are part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to use Pentagon funds to deliver on President Donald Trump's keystone campaign promise of a border wall. | Mario Tama/Getty Images Immigration Pentagon puts brakes on 3 border barrier projects because of cost

The Defense Department is no longer moving forward with three border barrier projects in California and Arizona, according to a court filing Monday.

The move is a reversal of an earlier Pentagon authorization for about 20 miles of fencing, lighting and other border infrastructure that would have used $2.5 billion in funds redirected from a counter-drug fund. That authorization, announced Aug. 27, was based on what was then determined to be "lower-than-expected contract costs." But the Defense Department revealed in the Monday filing that the department would not be able to cover the costs of the project.


The Defense Department initially authorized the funding after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that it would likely be able to afford the projects using the counter-drug funds, but the Army Corps said it would not know the full financial situation until later in the fiscal year.

The Army Corps ultimately advised the department that the funds would not cover the project, prompting its withdrawal on Sept. 13, according to a document attached to the court filing.

The border projects are part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to use Pentagon funds to deliver on President Donald Trump's keystone campaign promise of a border wall. Earlier this year, the president demanded Congress come up with billions of dollars for a wall on the border with Mexico. After Congress declined that request and the government went into its longest shutdown in U.S. history, Trump declared a national emergency to divert defense funds toward border barriers.

Tapping into Pentagon funds for a border wall has prompted numerous legal challenges, including by the House, which argued it violated Congress' constitutional power of the purse. A judge later dismissed the House suit.

The Supreme Court temporarily gave the green light in July for the administration to use $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds to replace already extant border infrastructure in California, Arizona and New Mexico, overturning blocks imposed by lower courts. But the ruling is not a final approval on the move, and the organizations and states challenging the budget shuffle continue their efforts in the courts.

