President-elect Trump’s transition team has signaled to Republican leaders in Congress that they should appropriate funding for the border wall in upcoming legislation, according to a report Thursday evening.
The move would represent a break from Trump’s promise as a GOP candidate to bill Mexico for the project, while Mexican officials repeatedly stated that their country will not pay for the wall.
The incoming administration plans to use a 2006 law passed during President George W. Bush’s time in office to authorize the completion of the U.S.-Mexico fence, House Republican officials said Thursday.
The outgoing Obama administration would have had the authority to move on strengthening border security, but chose not to find the funding for it, one GOP representative said.
“It was not done in the Obama administration, so by funding the authorization that’s already happened a decade ago, we could start the process of meeting Mr. Trump’s campaign pledge to secure the border,” Indiana Republican Rep. Luke Messer told CNN.
Though specifics on funding are not yet known, a border security bill Homeland Security Chair Mike McCaul proposed last year was estimated to cost $10 billion.
Messer said including the funding for something that would enhance U.S. security in an appropriations bill would put Democrats in a difficult position if they are forced to choose between shutting down the government or disavowing a fence that many Democrats supported in 2006.
