The Pentagon Wants to Know How a Border Wall Will Improve Troops’ ‘Effectiveness’ Before it Contributes DoD Dollars by Tara Copp and Leo Shane III - Military Times
The Pentagon has asked Department of Homeland Security to identify locations where border wall construction would improve the “effectiveness" of military troops deployed there, a key justification required to redirect military construction spending that would otherwise go to local base projects.
In a memo, dated Feb. 18, DoD asked DHS to identify “priorities for potential construction,” a U.S. official familiar with the memo’s contents told Military Times. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is asking for a priority list, as well as the data used to generate that priority list, to help him determine “what projects we support” and what could be delayed, the official said.
The Pentagon is looking at how it could spend military construction funds, or MILCON, to comply with President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency last week. Shanahan has not received a response yet from DHS, the official said.
Congressional staffers also said they have not received any specifics from the White House on how military construction money will be used in the border wall effort…