Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper agreed Tuesday to free up $3.6 billion from the Pentagon budget for President Trump’s border wall by effectively defunding 127 military construction projects using emergency authorities.
Esper determined that the use of the military construction funds was necessary to support American forces deployed to the southern border with Mexico under the national emergency that Trump declared in mid-February. The formal determination allows Trump, under an obscure statute in the federal code overseeing the military, to tap the funds appropriated for other purposes without sign-off from Congress.
The Pentagon declined to disclose which projects would be defunded. Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said the list would be made available later this week after the Defense Department notifies lawmakers with affected projects in their districts and foreign embassies with affected projects in their countries.
