Here’s where the Pentagon is pulling $1.5B to put toward Trump’s wall – Washington Examiner
The Pentagon is redirecting $1.5 billion in funding that was meant to be spent on a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, reconnaissance plane, overseas war efforts, and other projects to build 80 miles of border wall along the U.S.-Mexico boundary, according to a new report.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced the diversion of funds Friday, but a Defense Department document recently obtained by the Washington Post shows the money is being pulled from several other projects.
“The Department carefully selected sources for the reprogramming that are excess or early to need and will not adversely affect military preparedness,” the document said.
Some of the money will come from the Air Force’s ballistic missile program, Minuteman III; Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS); a “space test experiment” connected to the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency; “Overseas Contingency Operations”; and its new Blended Retirement System.
The Associated Press reported last Friday that $604 million will be pulled from funding for the Afghan and coalition forces.
Shanahan said this is the final pool of money the Pentagon will make available for border fence construction. It pulled around $1 billion in Army personnel dollars in March on top of $3.6 billion in military construction money.
At the conclusion of the partial government shutdown in February, Trump announced plans to use $600 million from the Treasury Department’s drug forfeiture fund; $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s drug interdiction program; and $3.5 billion from a military construction fund.