House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith attempted Tuesday to block the Pentagon’s move to shift $1 billion in defense money to an account that could be used to build President Trump’s border wall.
Mr. Smith wrote a letter to the Defense Department saying he was denying the attempt to “reprogram” the money.
“The committee does not approve the proposed use of Department of Defense funds to construct additional physical barriers,” the Washington Democrat wrote.
He also added in a committee hearing Tuesday “funding a border wall out of the Department of Defense is also unbelievably irresponsible.”
“Whatever one feels about the border wall, to look at the Pentagon as sort of a piggybank/slush fund, where you can simply go in and grab money for something when you need it, really undermines the credibility of the entire DoD budget,” Mr. Smith said.
But the administration has argued it doesn’t need congressional approval to move the money from military readiness funds over to a drug interdiction account.
Under the law, the Pentagon can already use that drug interdiction money to build fencing.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan notified Congress Monday night that he was moving the money.
Mr. Smith’s move sets up a potential legal challenge to the Pentagon’s decision.
The fight over drug money is related to, but not the same as, the fight over Mr. Trump’s border emergency declaration.
That declaration would authorize the Pentagon to shift up to $3.6 billion in money from military construction accounts toward the border wall.
That’s in addition to $2.5 billion the president wanted to tap from the drug interdiction accounts, $601 million from a Treasury Department forfeiture fund, and the $1.375 billion Congress did explicitly approve for wall construction this year.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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