Posted on 12/19/2018 10:53:56 AM PST by 11th_VA
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP reasserted a directive Wednesday – that the Pentagon quietly dismissed last week – that the military will assume responsibility for building a wall along the southern U.S. border.
Trump's announcement follows reports that the president withdrew his demand for $5 billion in funding for a border wall amid a lack of support in Congress as lawmakers seek a funding compromise that will keep the government open. Trump also repeated claims that a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico will generate revenue that will fulfill his campaign promise of forcing America's southern neighbor to pay for the wall.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders indicated Tuesday that the administration was looking for other elements of the government that could fulfill one of the president's signature campaign promises.
"Mexico is paying (indirectly) for the Wall through the new USMCA, the replacement for NAFTA!" Trump wrote on Twitter, referring to the revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement that he has rebranded as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. "Far more money coming to the U.S. Because of the tremendous dangers at the Border, including large scale criminal and drug inflow, the United States Military will build the Wall!"
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Army headquarters currently overseeing domestic operations along the U.S. border deferred questions to the Pentagon, which did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
But on Dec. 11, following Trump's initial claims that he would direct the military to begin wall construction, Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis said, "to date, there is no plan to build sections of the wall."
"However, Congress has provided options under Title 10 U.S. Code that could permit the Defense Department to fund border barrier projects, such as in support of counter drug operations or national emergencies."
The statement from a department that regularly touts its ability to respond to directives immediately was seen as a way to push back on an unplanned demand from the president without openly contradicting the commander in chief.
Trump has hinted at the idea of using the military to pay for or build the wall, including in March. Federal agencies, however, cannot reappropriate funds without congressional approval. And top legislators on Capitol Hill have questioned whether Trump's authority to deploy the military could extend to building a permanent barrier.
[ "The real issue here is the money. There is nothing in the DOD budget that I could recognize as authorizing them to build a wall. I don't know where they get the authority," Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, said, according to The Washington Examiner.
Trump has previously used his executive power to deploy the military in support of domestic border issues without an apparent funding mechanism. In October, shortly before the November midterm elections, he announced that thousands of U.S. service members would temporarily deploy to border crossings in Texas, Arizona and California and unguarded portions of the southern border to help build fencing and wire barriers, and provide logistic support to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Trump claimed this was a necessary response to a caravan of hundreds of migrants approaching the U.S. from Central America.
Top military officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, pushed back at the time on Trump's assertions that the military would serve as a police force, saying its responsibilities were limited to logistics and support roles.
That deployment is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, which will likely come out of the Defense Department's operating budget.
good post
MINE THE BORDER!
I’m with you there.
I’m waiting to see what Pres. Trump’s first veto will veto.
Vetoes rarely get overridden.
I am embarrassed and dismayed by how easily played FReepers are. Has the media told anyone the truth in the past 50 years? Why would you believe them and not the one man who has accomplished miracles in 24 months?
***
The Sore Cruzers from the primaries are the main culprits.
Just like I predicted, they want America to be destroyed so they can say ‘I told you so.’ They’re gleeful at every setback that this worthless Congress has given to us.
Many of the rest are shills from ShareBlue and the like.
Just a few weeks ago, many in the media were touting how Trump had kept his campaign promises. There was a circulating list of way over 200 accomplishments, more than any other president.
I think why some people are so quick to condemn everything about Trump because of the wall... in most cases, these were people who were Never-Trumpers to start with, or those on the fence.
Now they jump at condemning him to validate their early doubts. They would rather their ‘expert’ opinion be proven RIGHT than whether the country survives or not. They are concern trolls operating under the guise of fake patriotism, the same who believed he never had a chance to win the election and didn’t even want him to win.
I have faith that there is no one else who can achieve what Trump does, and if the whole government becomes lost to the Dems, maybe that will be the best time to proclaim the end of the country.
They didn’t dismiss it. That’s false.
What were Trump’s odds in 2016?? And what happened?
Right and where will that beautiful door be placed?
Yes and quick, you do not pay enough taxes already.
Mattis is top hand. Never doubt him. Your investigation into our top brass should and will lead you to the answer but it is not Mattis
Sorry could not resist
Yes FIRE Matthis but trust in Mattis
Will not ignore the border promise.
Sorry, ignored the "read my lips" get out the vote promise of prosecuting Hillary.
I didn’t post the line. I replied to it
That’s great, because if he does this spending money on the wall without an appropriation is going to be count 1 of the impeachment.
We live in a lawless time. Only a fool would worry about that trivial detail.
You didn’t really just call me a fool, did you? Well let’s see: A goodly number of GOP members of the Congress hate the president. We’ll be bombarded Day and night on the MSM by former judges and law professors telling us that this is just like the impoundment issue that was one of the counts that was going to be in the Nixon impeachment. Sage GOP leaders will shake their heads and express grave concerns. At least a handful of GOP break ranks and vote for the impeachment. Will it get 2/3 in the Senate? Probably not, but at least a couple of the usuals suspects will break ranks making the unsuccessful effort to remove the President also “bipartisan.”
Or you could veto the CR, go to the people on nationwide TV and ask them to force Congress to secure the border and tell them, without the people’s support, the cause is lost. You know, stand and fight rather than kick the can down the road for the third time this year.
If you don’t think the first scenario is highly plausible, and the second scenario at least with a try, then I’d like a revote on the “who’s a fool” issue.
And I’d appreciate not being called names. Jerk
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