The Department of Defense has transferred $3.8 billion to fund President Donald Trump’s southwest border wall, of which democrats on the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee strongly disapprove.
They recently voiced their opposition in a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
The Defense Department transferred $2.5 billion last spring, and later an additional $3.6 billion was diverted from military construction projects for the wall. Trump intends to transfer $7.2 billion in department funds this year for the same purpose.
The funds had been appropriated by Congress to support and benefit service members, and the department did not request the transfers.
“We are dismayed that the department decided to target congressional increases to a vast number of critical programs, from aircraft to ships, including the perennially-underfunded Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and other Reserve Components,” the letter said.
The senators expressed concern that Overseas Contingency Operations/Global War on Terrorism funds were being used for wall construction. The funds were intended to be spent on routine Armed Forces operations, the letter said.
The letter was signed by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jon Tester (D-MT) and Tom Udall (D-NM).