Headline Roundup • February 14th, 2020
Trump Admin Diverts $3.8B from Military Funds to Border Wall Construction
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Featured Coverage of this Story
New York Times (News)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon plans to divert $3.8 billion intended for military equipment to the construction of a wall at the southwestern border, it informed lawmakers on Thursday, drawing bipartisan outrage and reviving a long-running battle with Congress over funding for President Trump’s signature campaign promise.
The formal notification to Congress on Thursday, which was obtained by The New York Times, was the latest bid by Mr. Trump’s administration to circumvent congressional control of federal spending and unilaterally seize funds that lawmakers had designated for other purposes to finance the...
ASKING NEITHER FORGIVENESS NOR PERMISSION: In an audacious challenge to legislative branch’s power of the purse, the Trump administration has notified Congress it intends to take $3.8 billion from major weapons programs, warfighting funds, and the National Guard to pay for construction of hundreds of miles of additional border wall before the November election.
The reprogramming action sent to Capitol Hill yesterday cites the urgent need to deter drug smuggling across the southern border — not stopping illegal immigration — as an “unforeseen military requirement,” which it argues is “necessary...
MUNICH, Germany (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday defended his decision to divert billions of dollars in funding for Navy and Air Force aircraft and other military programs to help pay for President Donald Trump’s promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Esper was asked by a reporter about criticism from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, including Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican from Texas, who called the diversion of funds contrary to the constitutional authority of Congress.
“Border security is national security,” Esper said, “and national security is...
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