Posted on 05/17/2019 3:36:59 AM PDT by blueplum
President Donald Trump is moving fast to spend billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border with money secured under his declaration of a national emergency, but he first must get past the courts.
On Friday, a federal judge in Oakland, California, will consider arguments in two cases that seek to block the White House from spending Defense and Treasury Department money.... California and 19 other states brought one lawsuit; the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, brought the other.
On Thursday, a federal judge in the nation's capital will consider a bid by the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent Trump from spending any Defense Department money...
...The courtroom showdowns come amid a flurry of activity to accelerate wall construction. Kenneth Rapuano, an assistant secretary of defense, said in a court filing last month that work on the highest-priority, Pentagon-funded projects — in Yuma, Arizona, and in New Mexico — could begin as soon as May 25. The Defense Department transferred $1 billion to border wall coffers in March and another $1.5 billion last week. Patrick Shanahan, the acting defense secretary, may decide as soon as Wednesday whether to transfer an additional $3.6 billion.
Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $789 million contract to SLSCO Ltd. of Galveston, Texas, to replace 46 miles (74 kilometers) of barrier in New Mexico, paid for by Pentagon funds.
On Wednesday, Barnard Construction Co. of Bozeman, Montana, won a $141.8 million contract to replace 5 miles (8 kilometers) in Yuma and 15 miles (24 kilometers) in the Border Patrol's El Centro, California, sector. Southwest Valley Constructors of Albuquerque, New Mexico, won a $646 million contract to replace 63 miles (101 kilometers) in the Border Patrol's Tucson, Arizona, sector.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Judges ruling in the pentagon? Um okay.
It truly is an Army Corps of Engineers Job.
The courts have 0 standing. Move forward.
Southern Border Communities Coalition seems like an interesting little plum - how many are foreign entities and/or acting as foreign agents?:
https://sites.google.com/site/borderstakeholderforum/stakeholders
DJT should ignore the courts and proceed to building the wall. This is our last shot.
You can’t leave these decisions to local officials. Corrupt local officials along borders (anywhere, not only in the USA) are often co-opted by smuggling cartels. They get rich on bribes while their nation suffers a demographic invasion.
$17 million a mile to replace some fencing in New Mexico?
Replacing/upgrading existing fence on dry ground should be the smoothest sailing part of this. And this doesn’t count the design and other management processes through to the contracting and oversight.
Even just at that rate, however, a full wall on the border would be $34 billion: a bargain despite the DoD graft markup.
Exactly.
The language of the article: "Trump...first must get past the courts.", is the MSM perpetuating the myth that the liberal courts have jurisdiction, that a Wall could well be a violation of the law. This aspect of the battle could be regarded as, "preparing the voters".
just guessing but maybe union wages take a big piece of the pie? add fabricated structural steel at $1,500/ton avg ? no clue what a single bollard weighs tho
otoh, Fisher Industries-Arizona, has filed a formal complaint with the Corps of Engineers claiming they have been told to raise their prices in bids. I think we’d all like to know more about that:
Since when is our national defense subject to judicial review?
Since Hillary Clinton had “her” election stolen from her by Bad Orange Man.
He’s not really president, you know, but rather something far less that must get the approval of SCOTUS before he can even pass gas.
/s
why is the Admin even participating in these court charades? Easier to assert they have no standing if you just ignore them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.