President Donald Trump’s border wall got even more funding this week as the Department of Defense (DOD) moved billions more to build the barrier between the US and Mexico.
The Pentagon told Congress that it’ll be diverting $3.83 billion to build the wall. The money will come from a fund to buy equipment and aircraft. To meet this need, the DOD is pulling funding from the following:
- 2 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft
- 4 C-130J transport planes
- 2 F-35 fighter jets
- 1 P-8A reconnaissance aircraft
- 8 MQ-9 Reaper drones
Also, the National Guard and Reserves won’t buy $1.3 billion in new equipment and some money will be diverted from the programs to help the Army update its trucks and Humvees.
Trump has made it clear the wall is necessary:
Tremendous numbers of people are coming up through Mexico in the hopes of flooding our Southern Border. We have sent additional military. We will build a Human Wall if necessary. If we had a real Wall, this would be a non-event!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2019
Earlier this year, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned another ruling that would have prevented Trump from using $3.6 billion in military funding. The president plans to use $7.2 billion to complete more than 900 miles of the border wall by 2022.
Thank you to our friends at United Voice for contributing this piece.
