{"id":17338,"date":"2019-09-12T17:01:09","date_gmt":"2019-09-12T17:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/12\/senate-dems-lose-border-wall-skirmish-as-defense-spending-bill-advances\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:41:16","slug":"senate-dems-lose-border-wall-skirmish-as-defense-spending-bill-advances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/09\/12\/senate-dems-lose-border-wall-skirmish-as-defense-spending-bill-advances\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Dems lose border wall skirmish as defense spending bill advances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2015 Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday sent its $693 billion defense spending bill to the Senate floor and scuttled a Democratic amendment meant to bar Pentagon funds from being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/07\/28\/supreme-court-trump-can-use-pentagon-funds-for-border-wall\/\" target=_blank>diverted<\/a> to President Donald Trump\u2019s border wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Typically a bipartisan measure, the Senate\u2019s 2020 defense appropriations bill was the latest flashpoint in<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2019\/09\/10\/border-wall-showdown-looms-over-senates-pentagon-spending-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\"> partisan fighting<\/a> that has unraveled Senate Republican plans for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2019\/09\/06\/congress-mulls-continuing-resolution-to-keep-government-open\/\" target=\"_blank\">speedy passage<\/a> of spending bills before Oct. 1 to avoid a government shutdown. Senate Republican leaders now plan to pass as many bills as they can by the end of the fiscal year, then cover the rest of government with a stop-gap spending bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Democrats have been fired up since the Pentagon earlier this month released the list of 127 projects deferred by the administration to devote $3.6 billion to the border wall, for a total of $6.1 billion this year. They argue the president\u2019s plans will usurp Congress\u2019s power of the purse and shortchange troops and military families who needed the new facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thursday\u2019s partisan committee votes were not the end of the argument as the appropriations panel is expected to take up a narrower measure in the coming days to limit the president\u2019s authority to transfer military construction funds. A bipartisan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tomudall.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/udall-collins-shaheen-file-bipartisan-resolution-to-terminate-national-emergency-declaration\" target=_blank>resolution<\/a> introduced separately on Wednesday would force a vote on the Senate floor to cancel the border emergency that Trump invoked to move the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/09\/10\/border-wall-showdown-looms-over-senates-pentagon-spending-bill\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1134492095.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Border wall showdown looms over Senate\u2019s Pentagon spending bill<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Senate Republican plans to quickly pass spending bills over the next few weeks seemed to hit a rough patch Tuesday as Democrats pushed to rebuke President Donald Trump\u2019s diversion of military construction funding to the border wall.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., noted that Congress agreed to provide only $1.4 billion after last year\u2019s 35-day government shutdown, and \u201cnot a penny more.\u201d \u201cThe president has contorted the law beyond all recognition, and undone congressional funding decisions by fiat,\u201d Leahy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee and Senate\u2019s No. 2 Democrat, said Trump\u2019s border wall maneuver placed the integrity of the administration\u2019s defense budget request in question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were told by the Department of Defense we need every dollar,\u201d Durbin said. \u201cWe\u2019re being taken for a ride for at least $7 billion in cushion money that the president is going to pull out of this [defense budget] for his wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 15-16, along party lines, to send the defense spending bill to the Senate floor, prior to the vote on the Leahy-Durbin border wall amendment. Leahy said the overall defense appropriations bill was \u201ca good bill\u201d save for his strong opposition to the transfer of border wall funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/09\/12\/lawmakers-push-air-force-secretary-nominee-on-border-wall-use-of-trump-properties\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Barbara_Barrett_web.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Lawmakers push US Air Force secretary nominee on border wall, use of Trump properties<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. Air Force secretary nominee faced questions about the Trump administration during her confirmation hearing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outside the hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, an ally of the president and a senior appropriator, rapped Democrats for voting against the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou may not like the border wall, but that\u2019s no reason to deny the men and women of the military the money they need to fight the fights we can\u2019t afford to lose,\u201d Graham, R-S.C., told reporters. \u201cI really think it\u2019s an emergency [on the border], and I\u2019m really disappointed in my Democratic colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The overall bill includes $622.4 billion in base funding, $70.7 billion in wartime spending, and $1.7 billion for storm damaged military bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a strong bill,\u201d said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who also chairs the defense sub-panel. \u201cIt continues increases in funding for our nation\u2019s defense that meet the objectives of the National Defense Strategy by improving readiness, investing in innovation, and bolstering the combat effectiveness of the Department of Defense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense is not the only battleground for spending bills. The panel voted along partisan lines, 15-16, to reject Leahy\u2019s alternative allocations, called 302(b)\u2019s, which would have increased spending for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies and reduced it for the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shelby postponed Thursday\u2019s markup for the State, Foreign Operations and Related Agencies appropriations bill to forestall debate over Democratic amendments that Republicans view as \u201cpoison pill\u201d policy provisions. Such provisions were barred under the terms of the bipartisan budget agreement struck in May, but there\u2019s dispute between Democrats and Republicans over what the term \u201cpoison pill\u201d should cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/09\/04\/heres-everything-the-pentagon-is-putting-on-hold-to-concentrate-on-building-the-border-wall\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19066751578508.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Here\u2019s everything the Pentagon is putting on hold to concentrate on building the border wall<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The delayed programs were chosen largely either because they were upgrades or replacements to existing facilities, a senior defense official told reporters in a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, or because their contract award dates are not scheduled for a year or more.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Senate have to resolve its internal divisions to pass appropriations bills and then have to reconcile its bills with the House\u2019s competing bills. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is an appropriator and appeared at the hearing, said he had hoped to pass a bipartisan package of bills that would have funded 70 percent of the government by Oct. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McConnell, R-Ky., said he was praying for compromise between Leahy and Shelby, &#8220;that the curtains will part here and we will figure out a way to move forward\u2015because I don\u2019t think either side can take advantage of the other given the divided government that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday  advanced its $693 billion defense spending bill to the Senate floor and scuttled a Democratic measure to bar Pentagon funds from being diverted to President Donald Trump\u2019s border wall.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[8,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-17338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GELDMEWWCJDGBPFVW5FRFTYB2A","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2019\/09\/12\/senate-dems-lose-border-wall-skirmish-as-defense-spending-bill-advances\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senate Dems lose border wall skirmish as defense spending bill advances - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced its $693 billion defense spending bill to the Senate floor and scuttled a Democratic measure to bar Pentagon funds from being diverted to President Donald Trump\u2019s border wall.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate Dems lose border wall skirmish as defense spending bill advances\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday advanced its $693 billion defense spending bill to the Senate floor and scuttled a Democratic measure to bar Pentagon funds from being diverted to President Donald Trump\u2019s border wall.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/09\/12\/senate-dems-lose-border-wall-skirmish-as-defense-spending-bill-advances\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-12T17:01:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:41:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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