US Department of Defense
US Department of Defense(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon is notifying lawmakers Wednesday about military construction projects in their districts that will be deferred or delayed in order to divert funding to build the president’s wall at the southern border.
So far, the full list or projects has not been disclosed by the Department of Defense, but money will come from 127 military projects already appropriated by Congress.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper briefed senior appropriators and congressional leadership on Tuesday, explaining that $1.8 billion of the $3.6 billion in diverted funds will be taken from overseas projects, and $1.8 billion from projects in the United States and American territories.
In March, the Pentagon circulated a list of hundreds of projects that constituted a broader $6.8 billion universe of projects under consideration.
President Donald Trump said that he and Esper believe the money is needed in the name of “national security.”
“It is when you have thousands of people trying to rush our country. I think that’s national security, when you have drugs pouring into our country,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday. “I view that as national security and [Esper] had very good conversations with various members of Congress.”
The Pentagon informed Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine that the administration plans to move money from four military construction projects in Virginia, including a Cyber Operations Facility at Joint Base Langley-Eustis that will lose $10 million; a Navy Ships Maintenance Facility in Portsmouth that will lose $26.1 million; a project to replace a hazardous materials warehouse in Norfolk that will lose $18.5 million; and another project to replace a hazardous materials warehouse in Portsmouth that will lose $22.5 million.
“Taking money away from our military — including funding to support critical projects here in Virginia — will mean we are less equipped to tackle threats here at home and abroad,” Warner said.
Trump predicted that 500 miles of refurbished border wall will be built by the end of next year, shortly after the presidential election.
“We are building very large sections of wall,” Trump said. “We should have it almost complete, if not complete, by the end of next year.”
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