{"id":30129,"date":"2020-01-16T18:03:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T18:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/16\/heres-how-much-border-wall-has-been-built-with-the-militarys-money\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:59:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:59:54","slug":"heres-how-much-border-wall-has-been-built-with-the-militarys-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/budget\/2020\/01\/16\/heres-how-much-border-wall-has-been-built-with-the-militarys-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how much border wall has been built with the military\u2019s money"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the year since President Trump declared a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border<\/a>, starting the ball rolling on using Homeland Security and Defense Department funds to build border barriers, the Army Corps of Engineers has put up about 23 miles of wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the Pentagon diverted $6 billion<\/a> of its budget to build barriers in California, Arizona and New Mexico. As of Jan. 13, according to Army Corps of Engineers figures, about $3 billion of that has been awarded for contracts to build 200 miles of barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t give you any information on any future budget decisions,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told reporters Thursday, in response to reports of internal White House documents<\/a> showing a plan to siphon another $7.2 billion from DoD accounts this year. “I\u2019m not privy to what those decisions have been at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While $3.5 billion of that would come from counter-drug operations, the Washington Post<\/a> reported, another $3.7 would come from military construction accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s $200 million more than what the administration set aside last year, which affected more than 100 projects, from training facilities and on-base schools to Hurricane Maria relief for the Puerto Rico National Guard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That money was meant to restore much-needed readiness, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said in a hearing Thursday, as the committee weighed the nomination of James McPherson for Army undersecretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat argument is undermined if the administration shifts milcon [military construction] funding, dictated for critical defense infrastructure, for a border wall that was supposed to be paid by Mexico, not the American taxpayer,\u201d Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said. \u201cAnd the department should not pursue this path, in my view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first contract, awarded in April with $739 million in counter-drug operations funding, has seen 5 miles of 56 miles completed so far, according to the data. So far, though $621 million in military construction funds have been awarded to build 71 miles of wall since November, zero miles have been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\t