With the border wall set to be a major part of President Trump’s State of the Union address, there’s plenty of renewed speculation that he’ll take the opportunity to declare a national emergency, thus freeing up military funds to be used for the wall he promised voters.
But the military budget is no money tree.
The money that Trump would spend for his barrier would have to be pulled from other projects, including aircraft maintenance hangars, new command and control facilities at bases, and even U.S. efforts to bolster NATO defense against Russia in Eastern Europe.
Not only would tapping those funds prompt staunch resistance from lawmakers whose districts would stand to lose federal dollars, but it would also deal a blow to efforts to shore up U.S. defense capabilities.
As recent reports make clear, including last week’s Worldwide Threat Assessment from Trump’s intelligence chiefs, the threats facing the U.S. are not to be casually brushed off: Russia and China are increasingly collaborating, North Korea has little interest in giving up nuclear weapons and cyberthreats, and other new technologies are increasingly drawing the U.S. into a new arms race that we can’t risk losing.
Put simply, the U.S. cannot afford to slack on defense priorities. And the wall, as helpful as increased barriers along certain parts of the border might be, isn’t at the top of the list.
If Trump wants more security at the southern border, the best way to do it — as even he has admitted — is through Congress. He should use the State of the Union to try to get it with compromise and concessions, rather than a heavy-handed emergency declaration that would sap military preparedness.
