The Trump border wall project got approval from the Pentagon, DW reports. On Tuesday, $3.6 billion for wall’s construction is being diverted from existing military projects.
The recent Pentagon’s move has sparked criticism among Democrats who see spending $3.6 bln for Mexico wall as another eccentric trick of the US President. With Pentagon’s approval, the 282-km-long border wall will be constructed on the border with Mexico as Trump promised in 2016.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper approved $3.6 billion, diverting the money from 127 current military projects both inside and outside the US. In a letter sent to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the border wall describes as “necessary to support the use of the armed forces in connection with the national emergency”.
The “national emergency” itself was declared by President Trump in February when the US Congress refused to approve the $5.7 billion Trump had demanded to the long-promised barrier against the Mexican migrants.
Now, the opposition Democrats call Pentagon’s approval ‘a slap in the face to the members of the armed forces who serve our country’. According to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, President Trump intends to ‘cannibalize already allocated military funding to boost his own ego’.
“Congress will strongly oppose any funds for new wall construction,” Sen Schumer promised.
The move puts lawmakers who blocked Trump’s wall funding in a difficult position, as they must now decide if they will refund the projects that are being used to channel money to the wall.
The Trump administration secured a major win in July after the Supreme Court lifted a spending freeze on money for the wall. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said it would challenge the latest wall funding attempt in court.
