GOP Officials “Considering Plan to Divert Billions of Dollars in Additional Funds” By Raiding Military Construction Projects Again

Washington Post: “If the administration carries out the plan, the White House will have defied Congress to divert a total of $7.2 billion of Defense Department funds over two years, money that would otherwise pay to repair or ­upgrade U.S. military installations”

The stark failure of Senate Republicans to oppose the White House’s massive raid on military construction funds in their own states is getting even worse, with a new Washington Post report finding that senior Trump administration officials are considering a scheme to divert even more military funding. The move would ultimately divert a total of $7.2 billion of Defense Department funds over two years from critical projects.

A report from the U.S. Air Force revealed that diverting funds from these projects “poses various national security risks for the U.S. armed forces,” and Pentagon documents showed that “lives would be put at risk” if many of these projects were not funded.

For weeks, vulnerable Senate Republicans who voted to uphold the sham emergency declaration have failed to stand up to the White House or reverse this abuse of power that’s threatening to hurt their constituents and undermine our national security. As Democrats prepare to force a vote to end this reckless cash grab, Republicans who “cannot dodge the issue” are doubling down on their failure of leadership, “siding with the president even though he’s raiding money for military projects in their states.”

“Senate Republicans have already voted once to enable this cash grab that’s threatening our national security and putting servicemembers in harm’s way while costing their own states, and now the White House is floating a scheme to walk all over them again and raid even more money from the Defense Department,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “GOP senators should never have allowed this to happen, but they will have another opportunity to stand up for their states and do what’s right by voting to overturn this sham emergency declaration instead of letting the White House continue to divert this critical military funding.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Washington Post: Trump officials considering plan to divert billions of dollars in additional funds for border barrier

By Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey

September 19, 2019

Key Points:

• Senior Trump administration officials are considering a plan to again divert billions of dollars in military funding to pay for border barrier construction next year, a way to circumvent congressional opposition to putting more taxpayer money toward the president’s signature project, according to three administration officials.

• The president has pledged to complete nearly 500 miles of new barrier by the 2020 election… But that construction goal will require a total of $18.4 billion in funding through 2020, far more than the administration has publicly disclosed, the administration’s latest internal projections show.

• The White House also has requested $5 billion for barrier funding in 2020 through the Department of Homeland Security budget, but if that money is not approved, the administration plans to dip into the Pentagon’s construction budget for the second consecutive year to get another $3.6 billion, said the officials familiar with the plan.

• If the administration carries out the plan, the White House will have defied Congress to divert a total of $7.2 billion of Defense Department funds over two years, money that would otherwise pay to repair or ­upgrade U.S. military installations.

• The administration’s financial maneuvers have drawn significant criticism from lawmakers who accuse the White House of undermining military readiness to fund a project closely tied to the president’s reelection campaign.

• While running for office, Trump had said Mexico would pay for the wall.

• This year’s Pentagon reprogramming has taken funding away from 51 projects, generating significant opposition, so the plan discussed at the White House would first try to get lawmakers to put that money back into budgets that fund military construction and repairs.

• “The plan is to sell it as replenishment money to the Defense Department for the $3.6 billion they took this year,” said one of the administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears of reprisal. “Then once they got it from Congress, they would take it again.”

• The White House then maneuvered to get the money elsewhere, largely by squeezing military construction projects. Of the $3.6 billion redirected to the border project in 2019, about half comes from projects at bases and locations overseas, while the other half has been shaved off domestic projects.

• Touring new sections of double-layered fencing with top Homeland Security officials this week, the president likened the structure to a luxury automobile.

Read the full story here.

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