The Pentagon said Friday that it is canceling border wall projects paid for with money taken from the military and reallocating the funds to their original purposes.
After declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019, the Trump administration took billions of dollars originally intended for military projects and redirected the money to a border wall.
On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, he issued a proclamation ending that emergency. It stated that “it shall be the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall.”
Biden also announced a review of resources that were diverted from other projects to fund the wall.
An administration official told the Hill that starting Friday, the Pentagon “will begin canceling all wall projects using the diverted funds.”
The Pentagon confirmed that in an official statement.
“The Department of Defense is proceeding with canceling all border barrier construction projects paid for with funds originally intended for other military missions and functions such as schools for military children, overseas military construction projects in partner nations, and the National Guard and Reserve equipment account,” Deputy Pentagon Spokesman Jamal Brown said.
He added that “today’s action reflects this administration’s continued commitment to defending our nation and supporting our servicemembers and their families.”
The Pentagon said Friday that it is canceling border wall projects paid for with money taken from the military and reallocating the funds to their original purposes.
After declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019, the Trump administration took billions of dollars originally intended for military projects and redirected the money to a border wall.
On President Joe Biden’s first day in office, he issued a proclamation ending that emergency. It stated that “it shall be the policy of my administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall.”
Biden also announced a review of resources that were diverted from other projects to fund the wall.
An administration official told the Hill that starting Friday, the Pentagon “will begin canceling all wall projects using the diverted funds.”
The Pentagon confirmed that in an official statement.
“The Department of Defense is proceeding with canceling all border barrier construction projects paid for with funds originally intended for other military missions and functions such as schools for military children, overseas military construction projects in partner nations, and the National Guard and Reserve equipment account,” Deputy Pentagon Spokesman Jamal Brown said.
He added that “today’s action reflects this administration’s continued commitment to defending our nation and supporting our servicemembers and their families.”
The Pentagon said that it is reviewing the list of projects that were deferred to pay for the border wall in order to prioritize funding. The department said that the aim is to allow “critical efforts to move forward as soon as possible.”
Biden campaigned on rolling back the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies, and in August, he stressed that “there will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.”
This article was written by Ryan Pickrell and originally published on the Insider.
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