Top Republican on House Armed Services Committee opposes military money for border wall

“In short, I am opposed to using defense dollars for nondefense purposes,” Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, told reporters Tuesday. “Seems to me we ought to fund border security needs on their own and not be taking it from other accounts.“

Thornberry, who previously served as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, argued that building a wall isn’t “a responsibility of the Department of Defense,” comments that come as the government is in a partial shutdown because of a dispute over border wall funding.

“It is disappointing that the best interests of the country do not seem to be everyone’s top priority,” Thornberry said. “We should fund the rest of the government and improve border security, leaving the political posturing behind.”

Building a border wall has been a top priority for Trump dating back to his days on the 2016 campaign, and he has requested more than $5 billion in funding for the project. But Democrats have opposed his proposal.

“If this were a ‘normal’ controversy, one side says ‘zero,’ another side says ‘five,’ you meet in the middle at two and a half,” Thornberry said. “Those things get resolved that way every day around here.”

On Sunday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said in an interview that Trump could use emergency powers to build a wall, but that such a move would be challenged in court.

“Unfortunately, the short answer is yes,” Smith said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Smith also said that such a move typically has been done to build facilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. “In this case, I think the president would be wide open to a court challenge saying, ‘Where is the emergency?’”

Trump is slated to deliver a speech on border security Tuesday evening before visiting the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday.