White House plans to divert $3.8 billion from DoD to build Trump's long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, for which he lied that Mexico would pay
"Trump is preparing to divert $3.8 Billion in total from programs across the Department of Defense," tweeted Foreign Policy reporter Lara Seligman today, "including a controversial war account used to fund emergency requirements, as well as the procurement of ships, aircraft and Army vehicles, to build the wall."
An excerpt from her scoop for FP:
For the second year in a row, Trump will raid the Department of Defense's coffers for money for the U.S.-Mexico border wall, dipping into funds earmarked for counterdrug activities and military construction. But this year, a significant chunk of those dollars will be funneled from a controversial war, according to a Feb. 13 reprogramming action signed by acting Pentagon comptroller Elaine McCusker obtained by Foreign Policy.
The account, the Overseas Contingency Operations fund, was established after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to fund emergency requirements. It has been criticized as a "slush fund" used to circumvent mandatory spending limits set by Congress.
As it did last year, the White House is planning to transfer funds from elsewhere in the Pentagon's budget into the counterdrug account. From there, the White House has argued it can legally transfer that money to build additional miles of the wall under U.S. Code Section 284 (b).
In total, the department plans to divert $1.6 billion from the Overseas Contingency Operations account to the counterdrug account, according to the reprogramming. The money was intended for procurement of C-130J airlift aircraft and MQ-9 unmanned aerial systems, as well as National Guard and Reserve equipment.
Read more at FP:
Trump to Raid Pentagon's War Account to Build Border Wall
The most controversial piece of this is that the White House is proposing moving money ($1.6B) from the Overseas Contingency Operations account, which is used to fund emergency requirements, even as DOD deploys tens of thousands more troops to the Middle East to counter Iran
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) February 13, 2020
That $1.6B included: $1.3 billion for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment fund, $169 million for Air Force C-130Js, and $160 million from MQ-9s.
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) February 13, 2020
The $2.2B from DOD's base budget includes: $201M for Army vehicles, including Army National Guard HMMWV mod; $233M for Navy F-35; $155M for V-22; $180M for P-8A; $650M for LHA replacement; $261M for EPF; $156 for Air Force F-35; $196M for C-130J; $180M for Light Attack
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) February 13, 2020
