It’s finally happened…
President Trump is moving forward with plans to divert $3.6 billion in military construction funds to build miles of new border wall, The Hill reports:
Defense Secretary Mark Esper called congressional leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), on Tuesday to detail the decision to reprogram the money away from military construction projects and to the border.
Schumer, who has projects in his home state that will be impacted, panned the decision as a “slap in the face” to members of the military.
“The president is trying to usurp Congress’s exclusive power of the purse and loot vital funds from our military. Robbing the Defense Department of much- needed funds is an affront to our service members and Congress will strongly oppose any funds for new wall construction,” he added.
Pelosi told House Democrats on a caucus-wide conference call on Tuesday that Esper also informed her of the move earlier in the day, according to a call participant.
“Canceling military construction projects at home and abroad will undermine our national security and the quality of life and morale of our troops, making America less secure,” Pelosi said later in a public statement.
“The House will continue to fight this unacceptable and deeply dangerous decision in the Courts, in the Congress and in the court of public opinion, and honor our oath to protect the Constitution,” she added.
This is a good move by President Trump as border security is a definite national security issue.
Politico explains in more detail where the money will come from “A total of 127 projects are affected, a Pentagon official told reporters Tuesday. Roughly $1.8 billion will come from military construction projects outside the United States and $1.8 billion will come from projects within the United States and its territories.”
As you might guess this has Democrats screaming like stuck pigs:
The Trump admin will divert $3.6 billion from the Pentagon to help pay for construction of the border wall, according to Democrats.
Schumer: “This decision will harm already planned, important projects intended to support our service members.”https://t.co/8vZ39s4exX
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 3, 2019
NEW: I obtained a letter Sec. Esper sent to the HASC Chairman detailing where the new fencing will be built, and how much each section will cost. The word “wall” is not in the letter. Story is here: https://t.co/kLPVPzJB3I
— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 3, 2019
DOD briefed Congessional leadership today on plans to take $3.6 billion from military construction projects to fund border wall construction. Lawmakers whose districts are affected will be notified tomorrow. @SpeakerPelosi statement —> pic.twitter.com/eZWZ6xpURr
— Rebecca Kaplan (@RebeccaRKaplan) September 3, 2019
This move is sure to enrage Democrats and even some Republicans but it’s absolutely the right thing to do in our opinion.
Thank you President Trump for making the tough and sometimes unpopular, at least with the left, calls.
What do you think, was this the right move by the President?
Src: The Federalist Papers
