Democrats in Congress say they will renew efforts to restrict President Trump’s authority to reprogram military construction funds to pay for border barriers in the wake of a report that Trump is eyeing $7.2 billion in Pentagon funds for border security projects.
“We will force yet another vote to terminate the president’s bogus national emergency declaration and return these much-needed military construction funds back to the military, to the men and women in our armed forces and to their families,” said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Under the 1976 National Emergencies Act, the president, upon declaring an emergency, may “undertake military construction projects, not otherwise authorized by law.”
But Democrats, and some Republicans, argue Trump is misusing the provision to subvert the will of Congress.
“The founders gave Congress the power of the purse, not the president, and this chamber has refused repeatedly to fund the president’s wall,” Schumer said.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith argues the money grab undercuts the Pentagon’s argument that defense is perpetually underfunded.
“Each year we hear from our leaders at the Pentagon that they don’t have enough money. They testify before Congress that any cuts to their funding would be disastrous for our national security,” the Washington Democrat said in a statement.
“If that is in fact true, then how can the President steal billions more from the Department of Defense without seriously undermining our national security?”
Read more from our senior writer on defense and national security in today’s edition of Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense.
