The Pentagon on Monday provided lawmakers with a list of military construction projects that could be affected by President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border. The list had been requested by lawmakers as part of their effort to oversee the Trump administration’s repurposing of as much as $3.6 billion in military construction funds for border wall construction, a move made possible by Trump’s emergency declaration.
The list contains $12.9 billion worth of construction projects all over the world that have not yet received contracts, including aircraft hangars, water treatment plants, training facilities, roads and medical facilities. The Pentagon said that some of the project funds would be exempt, including those related to military housing and “military construction projects with FY 2019 award dates.”
The military news site Task & Purpose said the list, which does not make clear which projects are exempt, was “about as clear as mud” in an article titled, “Pentagon to Congress: Here's every project that could be used to fund Trump's wall. Or not. We don't even know.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who sits on the Armed Services Committee, said he hopes the list will inspire lawmakers to override the president’s recent veto of a congressional effort to block his national emergency declaration, though analysts doubt there will be enough votes to do so.
Still, the use of Pentagon construction funds to build the border wall remains a controversial issue, the outcome of which depends in part on budget negotiations between Congress and the White House in the coming weeks.
