Pentagon cancels all contracts to build Trump’s border wall

The Pentagon has cancelled all of Donald Trump's border wall contracts, according to the Biden administration.

"Consistent with the president's proclamation, the Department of Defense is proceeding with canceling all border barrier construction projects paid for with funds originally intended for other military missions and functions such as schools for military children, overseas military construction projects in partner nations, and the National Guard and Reserve equipment account," Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Jamal Brown said in a statement.

The contracts being cancelled are any that used funding originally intended for use by the military and its functions.

Mr Brown said the move was reflective of the Pentagon's mission to provide for the military and military families.

"Today's action reflects this administration's continued commitment to defending our nation and supporting our service members and their families," he said.

It is not immediately clear if the change would halt all border projects, but it will stop any relying on Defense department funding.

Despite his repeated claims that Mexico would pay for the border wall, Mr Trump repeatedly leaned on US taxpayers to foot the bill for the construction, drawing from funds allocated to the Defense department for use by the military.

While those projects will pause, there are plans for the Biden administration to continue some work on the border; earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security announced it planned to repair damage to portions of the wall caused by floods and soil erosion in San Diego, and that it would finish installing surveillance technology in already completed sections of the barrier.

Mr Biden pledged he would not build "another foot" of the wall during his campaign.

Upon taking office, he paused all construction of the wall and commissioned a 60-day review to determine how military money was being used on its constructions.

The review extended beyond the 60 day deadline.

With the latest announcement, conditions at the border are in a state of flux. A Texas judge recently granted private land in Hidalgo County to the government for construction of the wall, and other land seizures had already been approved prior to Mr Biden taking office.

It is not immediately clear how the government will proceed with those acquisitions.

The Trump administration attempted to transfer $2.5bn from military construction projects and was taken to court over the allocation in 2020.

A federal appeals court ruled against Mr Trump, saying the administration had side-stepped Congress in allocating the funds without approval.

Comments

Wray: FBI deemed Jan. 6 attack domestic terrorism

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Tuesday that officials have classified the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by former President Trump Donald TrumpProsecutors focus Trump Organization probe on company's financial officer: report WHO official says it's 'premature' to think pandemic will be over by end of year Romney released from hospital after fall over the weekend MORE's supporters as domestic terrorism. "That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and it’s behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism," Wray told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Wray said the FBI has received more than 270,000 tips from Americans that have helped the bureau identify the numerous people who allegedly participated in the attack. ADVERTISEMENT "Citizens from around the country have sent us more than 270,000 digital media tips. Some have even taken the painful step of turning in their friends or their family members,” ...

Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend to cooperate with federal authorities in sex trafficking investigation

Washington (CNN) Federal authorities investigating alleged sex trafficking by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz have secured the cooperation of the congressman's ex-girlfriend, according to people familiar with the matter. The woman, a former Capitol Hill staffer, is seen as a critical witness, as she has been linked to Gaetz as far back as the summer of 2017, a period of time that has emerged as a key window of scrutiny for investigators. She can also help investigators understand the relevance of hundreds of transactions they have obtained records of, including those involving alleged payments for sex, the sources said. News of the woman's willingness to talk, which has not been previously reported, comes just days after the Justice Department formally entered into a plea agreement with Joel Greenberg, a one-time close friend of Gaetz whose entanglement with young women first drew the congressman onto investigators' radar. CNN reported last week that investigators were pressing for the...

Biden Wants to Hire 87,000 Additional IRS Agents to Go After Wealthy Tax Dodgers

The Biden administration is proposing hiring 87,000 new workers for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), effectively doubling the agency’s size, as part of a plan to beef up enforcement efforts and find billions of dollars in tax revenues that go uncollected each year. Enforcement efforts would primarily target individuals and corporations with higher incomes and profits, the administration has suggested. The hiring, which would be part of President Joe Biden’s overall $80 billion spending plan to increase enforcement efforts at the IRS, would not happen all at once. Instead, it would be carried out in phases, with a 15 percent growth in employment at the agency per year until that 87,000 hiring benchmark is reached. The move would help recoup (and go beyond) some of the employment losses the agency has seen over the past decade, as the IRS has lost more than 33,000 workers over the past decade. The drop in employment at the agency has resulted in fewer audits, particularly for filers w...

Politics Now - USA

Search This Blog