Rep. Mac Thornberry, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, is coming out against dipping into the Pentagon’s budget to pay for President Trump’s border wall.
The Texas lawmaker told reporters Tuesday that “border security is very important … but it is not the responsibility of the Department of Defense,” the online news site Breaking Defense reported. Mr. Thornberry argued that border security projects should be funded through the Homeland Security Department’s budget.
Mr. Thornberry served as chairman of the House armed services panel until Democrats took control of Congress earlier this month and has been an outspoken guardian of the Pentagon’s budget.
In a statement, Mr. Thornberry called out Democrats for holding up President Trump’s requested funding saying, “[t]he current standoff on government funding can and should be solved quickly. All that is required is for everyone to put politics aside and work to solve the problem. So far, the Democratic Leadership has been unwilling to do that.”
President Trump has requested $5.7 billion to secure the southern border and has held firm through 19 days of a government shutdown.
Democrats, however, aren’t budging from their proposal of just $1.3 billion for border security.
Mr. Trump reportedly has been weighing declaring a formal national emergency to fund the Mexican border wall without congressional approval. In that case, unspent military construction funds could potentially be transferred to finance the wall.
“In short, I am opposed to using defense dollars for non-defense purposes,” Mr. Thornberry said. “Seems to me we ought to fund border security needs on their own and not be taking it from other accounts.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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