Posted on 09/03/2019 3:27:43 PM PDT by BeauBo
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has authorized the use of $3.6 billion in military construction funds for 11 wall projects on the southern border with Mexico, according to defense officials and a letter from Esper to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has been obtained by CNN.
In his letter, Esper told Congress he has "determined that 11 military construction projects along the international border with Mexico, with an estimated total cost of $3.6 billion, are necessary to support the use of the armed forces in connection with the national emergency."
The announcement fulfills a promise made by President Donald Trump in February to tap military construction funds to build his border wall. The move was slammed by Congress when it was first announced and only recently completed a Pentagon legal review.
Defense Department officials say 127 military construction projects are being put on hold in order to use the $3.6 billion to fund building 175 miles of southern border wall.
Construction is expected to begin in about 135 days according to Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller Elaine McCusker.
According to chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman, half the money is coming from deferred projects overseas, and the other half were planned for projects in the US.
Though it's unclear which military construction would be put on hold, the move could put at risk projects such as command and control, drone, cyber and training facilities in the US and overseas.
White House officials have held talks in the last weeks to begin planning for the move, two administration officials said, which would shift funds from the Department of Defense's military construction budget to fund the border wall.
The move would rely on Trump's February emergency declaration, which has faced stiff legal challenges.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Whatever Trump does ... he needs to somehow entrench these projects to make it harder for the dems to pull the plug when they get in power. I realize these dems are fully capable of even tearing down structures but we can only do what we can do.
“Trump’s” border wall?
No bias there, eh?
Even Gropey Joe wants a wall now...between him and his crooked family...
Yep, the Dems will do anything possible to block it, then they will ridicule Trump for not building wall that they blocked from being built. This is why I am beginning to despise our system to hatred called politics
I wonder how long it will take for the money to be approved to demolish the wall if America is ever stupid enough to give the presidency back to the communists?
Agreed. It’s not Trump’s border wall. It’s the United States of America’s border wall.
Yep, the Dems will do anything possible to block it, then they will ridicule Trump for not building wall that they blocked from being built. This is why I am beginning to despise our system to hatred called politics
“he move could put at risk projects such as command and control, drone, cyber and training facilities in the US and overseas.”
I don’t recall CNN being worried about adequate funding for the military in the past. Amazing that they bring that concern up now.
Actually Trump added a lot to the military budget. Trump also, stopped escalation of troops overseas which is one reason Mattis left. The military can easily waste a few billion dollars every year. We can buy jets that don’t work or we do not need. We can deploy troops where we don’t need them. We can buy off other countries all over the world. But don’t worry we will get every drone we need. And CNN will be against any Trump budget, while being for Obama’s budget which was smaller. Hypocrisy is not a problem with CNN.
I believe the courts have already weighed in on this.
Assuming this 175 miles is built , how many more miles of wall are needed?
Assuming this 175 miles is built , how many more miles of wall are needed?
California/Mexico border is 137 miles
New Mexico/Mexico border is 210 miles
Arizona/Mexico border is 389 miles
Texas/Mexico border is 1259 miles
Total length of US/Mexico border is 1954 miles.
Unsure precisely how much of this new bollard type wall has been installed. Some 18 feet. Some 30 feet.
That is, the largest concentration of illegal immigrants, cross in a relatively few areas (San Diego, Yuma, parts of the Rio Grande) where there is already good access *from* the South.
The more of those areas that are blocked, the more two things happen:
1) Fewer people cross in areas that are harder and harder to get to.
2) The Border Patrol isn't stretched so thin, and has more manpower for the areas that are left.
Assuming this 175 miles is built , how many more miles of wall are needed?
About 259 miles are completed, under construction or already on contract. DoD is funding another 20 from savings out of the Counter-Narcotics account, about 75 more are coming in the Rio Grande Valley out of appropriations (and Treasury’s Asset Forfeiture Account.
So in total, about 529 miles are now in the pipeline with funding. We are likely to to be able to build a few more miles out of the savings, once the actual costs are realized, because they keep a conservative margin in case of problems (Bad weather, unexpected delay costs, etc.)
The total plan is for 1,100 miles. So it is almost exactly half. We should get some funding next year as well.
Since there is a priority list, the first 100 miles is dramatically more important/effective than the last 100 miles.
Somewhere between the top 300 and top 400 miles, you cover the areas where over 80 of current traffic passes (the Border cities, Rio Grande Valley and a few rural hot spot corridors.
So this amount of barrier is very significant.
Technology is rolling out even faster than barrier - just now starting in earnest. I would expect that the areas that get barrier will likely get persistent surveillance (IFT and RSS Towers) and alarm systems at roughly the same time - but other areas beyond the barriers will be subject to this kind of new and much higher level of detection and tracking capability as well.
Beyond that kind of fixed location constant coverage, other forms of technology are increasing rapidly as well, this year and next, like lots more drones (different types, some Military), mobile ground units, new sensors, and augmentation to Border Patrol Officers themselves.
The first areas to get Trump-style barrier are already seeing significant operational improvements (like San Diego and Calexico). Next year, the pace will be very rapid - about a mile per day for barrier, and more for technology. Effects should become quite pronounced locally, and really start disrupting the flows Nationally. Cartels will likely have to start fighting with each other for new routes, which will become increasingly difficult for them.
“I believe the courts have already weighed in on this.”
Three sources of money were identified by the Administration, when the President declared the National Emergency:
1. $2.5 billion from the Military’s Counter-Narcotics Funds. The Congressional authorization for those funds specifically authorizes their use for border fencing, roads and lighting. That is what the Supreme Court ruled on in July, and those projects have already broken ground and started placing panels of bollards.
2. $600 million from the Treasury Department’s Asset Forfeiture Fund. That is a discretionary piggy bank for the Administration. They are believed to be about to spend some of that soon in the Rio Grande Valley, and some Leftist front group will likely sue, just to harass and delay.
3. $3.6 billion from unobligated funds in Military Construction (MILCON) accounts. The projects are generally multi-year projects that are funded up front, and the next few years worth (up to five) are sitting on account until needed. The National Emergencies Act of 1976 authorizes the President to re-purpose those funds for construction in support of the Military in an emergency that he may declare. It is the only border wall spending that actually relies on the emergency declaration.
This will actually be the biggest fight. 127 actual projects are going to have money pulled out of them, and they will not be able to finish, or finish on time, if Congress does not restore that funding for future years. Until the Administration actually tries to spend that money, the legal cause for action has not occurred, so the legal actions up until that point have been preliminary. They are about to kick off in earnest, and all the key players have seen this coming since February, so strategies have been war-gamed and prepared.
$20.5 million per miles for 175 miles ???
$20.5 million per mile ???
Well yeah, he kind of is their boss.
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