Only $20m in existing funds found to pay for Mexico wall, document says

[Eugene]

Related GD thread: That wall is going down.

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Source: Reuters

Only $20m in existing funds found to pay for Mexico wall, document says

Reuters
Wednesday 1 March 2017 23.55 GMT

Donald Trump’s promise to use existing funds to begin immediate construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border has hit a financial roadblock, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The rapid start of construction, promised throughout Trump’s campaign and in an executive order issued in January on border security, was to be financed, according to the White House, with “existing funds and resources” of the Department of Homeland Security.

But so far, the DHS has identified only $20m that can be redirected to the multibillion-dollar project, according to a document prepared by the agency and distributed to congressional budget staff last week.

The document said the funds would be enough to cover a handful of contracts for wall prototypes, but not enough to begin construction of an actual barrier. This means that for the wall to move forward, the White House will need to convince Congress to appropriate funds.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/01/mexico-border-wall-funds-trump-administration

[drray23]

1. 20 millions out of 20 billions.

So its a part per thousand. Not even enough to even study where it would go (laying it out, identifying land owners, securing the land, etc....) .

Trump is going to get increasingly frustrated when he realizes that most of his wacky ideas cant be implemented without congress.

[MedusaX]

2. Shiny object

Basically, some poor schmuck got tasked with drafting a request for proposals that was only meant to be used as dual purpose propaganda ...
1. Soothe the base by making it look like their dreams are coming true
2. Stir up the opposition so that they will be distracted & waste time/energy on basically nothing.

Meanwhile, 45 can shell out the 20 million to his komrades for some worthless prototypes...