Despite Congress' ire, Pentagon to transfer $1 billion for Trump wall

By Phil Stewart

 

Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan testifies to the House Armed Forces Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

MIAMI (Reuters) - Acting U.S. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Wednesday he would push ahead with plans to transfer $1 billion (£757.5 million) to help fund President Donald Trump's wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, even as he acknowledged a likely backlash from Congress.

 

Democratic Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said on Tuesday that the panel did not approve the proposed shift in Pentagon expenditure. Any decision to go ahead anyway could prompt Congress to create new restrictions that could impact the Pentagon in the future.

 

Asked whether his plan was to move ahead regardless, Shanahan said: "Yes, it is."

 

"There are going to be consequences. I understand the position of the committees. I also have a standing legal order from the commander-in-chief," he said.

 

Congress could attempt to cut off the Pentagon's authority to reprogramme funds, something Smith hinted at during the hearing.

 

Asked whether he expected Smith to follow through, Shanahan said: "I would expect that to happen."

 

Still, the Pentagon insists it has the authority to shift the $1 billion.

 

The House failed on Tuesday to override Trump's first veto of the "national emergency" he declared last month to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall that Congress has not funded.

 

Smith told the hearing that Trump's proposed $750 billion defence budget would not pass as it was proposed. That budget included $100 billion in a "slush fund" meant to fund ongoing wars but which the Pentagon intends to use to boost the amount of money it has available to avoid budget caps.

 

Shanahan said losing the ability to reprogramme funds could present problems for Pentagon planners, who have to shift resources around to deal with natural disasters and other emergencies.

 

"It's a very difficult situation and ... we're going to have to be artful to manage this," he said. "I don't think it's going to be easy.

 

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; additional reporting by Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-28

Donald opened a Pandora’s box of sorts if he gets away with it 

Desperate times call for desperate actions! Millions of Americans voted for the Presidents policies(Wall).Congress won't approve it(won't allow Americans to be safe, to spite Trump),hell that won't even fix the loop holes in the immigration laws.

"The projects are eligible to be used because of the president’s declaration of a national emergency" !

 

 Def Sec-Shannahan  says he plans on using 4.3 billion in other eligible military funds

"That includes projects that have not been awarded yet to a contractor; projects that are part of recapitalization program, including “those that are about updating, fixing, replacing existing facilities;” and projects that are scheduled to be awarded later in the fiscal year, the officials said"

https://partner-mco-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/client_files/1553030121.pdf

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Congress could attempt to cut off the Pentagon's authority to reprogramme funds, something Smith hinted at during the hearing.

 

Asked whether he expected Smith to follow through, Shanahan said: "I would expect that to happen."

 

Still, the Pentagon insists it has the authority to shift the $1 billion.

.

 

 

Edited March 28, 20197 yr by riclag

You can tunnel under a wall you know......and I thought thats what the Mexicans were already doing??

3 hours ago, riclag said:

Desperate times call for desperate actions! Millions of Americans voted for the Presidents policies(Wall).Congress won't approve it(won't allow Americans to be safe, to spite Trump),hell that won't even fix the loop holes in the immigration laws.

"The projects are eligible to be used because of the president’s declaration of a national emergency" !

 

 Def Sec-Shannahan  says he plans on using 4.3 billion in other eligible military funds

"That includes projects that have not been awarded yet to a contractor; projects that are part of recapitalization program, including “those that are about updating, fixing, replacing existing facilities;” and projects that are scheduled to be awarded later in the fiscal year, the officials said"

https://partner-mco-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/client_files/1553030121.pdf

 

.

 

 

They voted for a wall paid by Mexico. Lol.

Unlike you, a large majority thinks there is no emergency.

http://fortune.com/2018/12/12/trump-border-wall-poll/

 

Edited March 28, 20197 yr by candide

1 hour ago, ThaiFelix said:

You can tunnel under a wall you know......and I thought thats what the Mexicans were already doing??

No one is tunneling under Isreal's Gaza Wall. Even Hungary's joke of a "wall" has produced a near 100% success rate. Wall + Will to Enforce solves all problems. But the latter is really the key. Trump needs to replace his DHS Chief yesterday. She's an Open Borders, Never-Trumper who frankly never should have been hired in the first place but is a HUGE liability now. 

1 hour ago, ThaiFelix said:

You can tunnel under a wall you know......and I thought thats what the Mexicans were already doing??

So you support tearing down all border walls, fences, etc since people can tunnel under them?

The acting SECDEF has his priorities straight.  He answers to POTUS, not Congress. 

 

"There are going to be consequences. I understand the position of the committees. I also have a standing legal order from the commander-in-chief"

Edited March 28, 20197 yr by Kelsall

I'm thinking of tearing down my wall, bars off the windows....because they are just so immoral. And because well who needs a wall around the house when folks can tunnel under.

Edited March 28, 20197 yr by EVENKEEL

4 hours ago, riclag said:

Desperate times call for desperate actions! Millions of Americans voted for the Presidents policies(Wall).Congress won't approve it(won't allow Americans to be safe, to spite Trump),hell that won't even fix the loop holes in the immigration laws.

"The projects are eligible to be used because of the president’s declaration of a national emergency" !

 

 Def Sec-Shannahan  says he plans on using 4.3 billion in other eligible military funds

"That includes projects that have not been awarded yet to a contractor; projects that are part of recapitalization program, including “those that are about updating, fixing, replacing existing facilities;” and projects that are scheduled to be awarded later in the fiscal year, the officials said"

https://partner-mco-archive.s3.amazonaws.com/client_files/1553030121.pdf

 

.

 

 

more millions didn't.

And if the situarion is so dire, why did Trump say it wasn't an emergency and he was only going this route to get it done faster?

7 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm thinking of tearing down my wall, bars off the windows....because they are just so immoral. And because well who needs a wall around the house when folks can tunnel under.

Once again the nonsensical comparison of walls around houses to border walls.

One big difference being that once you get past perimeter walls, you have to also get past inner walls. And unlike the USA, most houses that I know of come with a roof, so just climing a wall isn't going to gain you access. Or maybe you want to cover American with a roof?

And there is the minor fact houses are inhabited and are generally surrounded by other houses.

Also the fact that houses are generally adjacent to roads which allow for fast access by police.

Most of the wall will be built in areas where there are no roads. Which means that not only is staffing a problem, but the very fact that there are no raods means border crossers will have to go a long way to get access to roads. Which gives plenty of time for advanced surveillance to spot crossers.

2 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Once again the nonsensical comparison of walls around houses to border walls.

One big difference being that once you get past perimeter walls, you have to also get past inner walls. And unlike the USA, most houses that I know of come with a roof, so just climing a wall isn't going to gain you access. Or maybe you want to cover American with a roof?

And there is the minor fact houses are inhabited and are generally surrounded by other houses.

Also the fact that houses are generally adjacent to roads which allow for fast access by police.

Most of the wall will be built in areas where there are no roads. Which means that not only is staffing a problem, but the very fact that there are no raods means border crossers will have to go a long way to get access to roads. Which gives plenty of time for advanced surveillance to spot crossers.

Thank you for making my point. People with houses have less reason for having walls, but yet we do.....Why?

 

And, you have no problem with our Border Agents chasing large groups of folks at night through dangerous terrain. I'm done. What we say makes little difference. Happy Trump is doing what he promised.

35 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

more millions didn't.

And if the situarion is so dire, why did Trump say it wasn't an emergency and he was only going this route to get it done faster?

I have no idea what your talking about again! PT is building the wall, as we speak!  Billions coming from the Military Construction Projects

 

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

Thank you for making my point. People with houses have less reason for having walls, but yet we do.....Why?

 

And, you have no problem with our Border Agents chasing large groups of folks at night through dangerous terrain. I'm done. What we say makes little difference. Happy Trump is doing what he promised.

First of all, most people in the USA don't have walls around their houses. Have you seen lots of suburban developments where they do? And as I pointed out, it isn't just a matter of claiming a wall to gain access to a house, is it? You gonna put a roof over the entire USA?

And you seem to believe that walls located in isolated territory somewhere are going to be a serious impediment to immigrants. Why? Did you know that the Trump administration has barely been able to increase the number of border patrol agents? Given the large amounts of cash that border patrol agents can earn simply by looking the other way, it takes a lot of vetting to approve a new border patrol member. 2 years is the average. It's unlikely that there will ever be enough to thoroughlyly patrol the border.

48 minutes ago, riclag said:

I have no idea what your talking about again!

 

And yet you're allowed to vote.  That's kind of scary.

 

Congress should reduce the Pentagon's FY2020 budget by $1B, because apparently they received too much last year if they can gift huge chunks of it away.

 

 

 

Edited March 28, 20197 yr by attrayant

1 hour ago, riclag said:

I have no idea what your talking about again! PT is building the wall, as we speak!  Billions coming from the Military Construction Projects

 

If you have no idea what I'm talking about , then it must be because you're willfully ignorant.

Trump says he 'didn't need to' declare emergency but wanted 'faster' action

"I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster," Trump said during a press conference at the Rose Garden in the White House. "

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/430215-trump-says-he-didnt-need-to-declare-emergency-but-wanted-faster

1 billion to fund a stupid wall that will be destroyed in few years after trump era....

1 billion usd fund hospital, med care, school, eductions institutions, fund peace and people wealth not a silly egoist wall !

Just now, Jerry787 said:

1 billion to fund a stupid wall that will be destroyed in few years after trump era....

 

 

It's actually funding a (modified) campaign promise.  $1B won't be enough to do much of anything.  You might be able to start building the roads along the construction route (this is wilderness, remember) and other supporting infrastructure that will need to be built before any wall-building can start.

2 hours ago, usviphotography said:

No one is tunneling under Isreal's Gaza Wall.

Israel is spending 3 billion shekels to build a steel barrier along the Gaza border that Palestinians and Israelis believe will not be 100% effective against Hamas built tunnels. https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/02/gaza-israel-border-barrier-hamas-attacks.html

Same issue with Israel's border wall with Lebanon.

41 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

If you have no idea what I'm talking about , then it must be because you're willfully ignorant.

Trump says he 'didn't need to' declare emergency but wanted 'faster' action

"I want to do it faster. I could do the wall over a longer period of time. I didn't need to do this, but I'd rather do it much faster," Trump said during a press conference at the Rose Garden in the White House. "

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/430215-trump-says-he-didnt-need-to-declare-emergency-but-wanted-faster

Well he declared it ! Now he's building it, regardless!

37 minutes ago, Jerry787 said:

1 billion to fund a stupid wall that will be destroyed in few years after trump era....

1 billion usd fund hospital, med care, school, eductions institutions, fund peace and people wealth not a silly egoist wall !

What do you suggest American's do with illegal border crossing by the thousands of people !

4 minutes ago, riclag said:

Well he declared it ! Now he's building it, regardless!

Appropriating funds on the basis of an "emergency" which he doesn't consider to be an emergency.

Edited March 28, 20197 yr by bristolboy

Just now, riclag said:

What do you suggest American's do with illegal border crossing by the thousands of people !

Do what they've always done - give them jobs as nannies, cooks and gardeners.  Or they could work in one of the many Trump enterprises, which apparently hire them by the truckload

1 minute ago, bristolboy said:

Appropriating funds on the basis of an "emergency" which he doesn't consider to be an emergency.

He's building it 

2 minutes ago, riclag said:

He's building it 

Actually not. He's planning on building it but it's going to face considerable delays in the court system before it can start. And that's assuming the courts support him.

4 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

Do what they've always done - give them jobs as nannies, cooks and gardeners.  Or they could work in one of the many Trump enterprises, which apparently hire them by the truckload

It's still a crime 

Good for them. I listen to the agents ion the border, as does the Pentagon, not liberal talking heads. Surely after all the BS from the last 2 years they can shut up for awhile?  

17 minutes ago, riclag said:

He's building it 

 

Can you provide documentary evidence of that?

9 minutes ago, attrayant said:

 

Can you provide documentary evidence of that?

He's building a wall

50 minutes ago, riclag said:

It's still a crime 

Did anyone at Trump's country club get arrested and charged?