President Donald Trump can use recently allocated funding for border security to begin building his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Monday morning.
Confusion has surrounded the $1.6 billion allocated by Congress in its recent spending bill, of which only approximately $650 million can actually be used to bolster existing fencing along the border.
“The speaker told us you can use concrete,” host of “Fox & Friends” Steve Doocy posed to Gidley. “Senator Schumer says you can’t. Only improve the fence. What are you saying there? You can use it?”
Gidley responded “It’s my understanding you can,” noting that the “Hispanic caucus came out vehemently against this bill for two reasons.”
“One is because in the letter they wrote to the president it bolsters the president’s deportation force, quote-unquote, and it builds a wall.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders noted after the passage of the spending bill Wednesday that “100 miles” of new wall had been authorized by Congress.
.@POTUS talked w/ @SpeakerRyan & @SenateMajLdr about priorities secured in the omnibus, which all support, especially more $ to rebuild military (largest pay raise for troops in decade),more than 100 miles of new border wall, $ to fight opioid crisis & rebuild our infrastructure
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) March 21, 2018
The $650 million in funding, however, pales to the $25 billion President Donald Trump has repeatedly requested for his signature campaign promise. To circumvent Congress’s lack of funding the President has also proposed using funding allocated for the U.S. military in order to fund the wall’s construction.
Because of the $700 & $716 Billion Dollars gotten to rebuild our Military, many jobs are created and our Military is again rich. Building a great Border Wall, with drugs (poison) and enemy combatants pouring into our Country, is all about National Defense. Build WALL through M!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2018
Much can be done with the $1.6 Billion given to building and fixing the border wall. It is just a down payment. Work will start immediately. The rest of the money will come – and remember DACA, the Democrats abandoned you (but we will not)!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2018