The Biden administration has been quietly auctioning off millions of dollars of border wall materials, reports indicate, apparently making good on President Joe Biden’s pledge not to build “another foot” of former President Donald Trump’s signature border wall.
Determined to plug the gaps in the United States’ porous southern border and stem the flow of illegal immigration into the country, President Trump erected more than 450 miles of new wall during his administration. Faced with funding hurdles, President Trump even notably diverted some Pentagon funds to the project.
“It shall be the policy of my Administration that no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall,” President Biden’s declaration states.
Now, further proof that President Biden meant what he said about nixing wall construction comes in the form of reports that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)—the combat logistics support branch of the Department of Defense (DOD)—is disposing of border wall materials.
Neither the DLA nor the DOD responded to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
‘Finish the Wall’
Republicans, who have been deeply critical of President Biden on border security, introduced legislation in May that would force the Pentagon to allow millions of dollars worth of unused border wall components to be used to extend the wall along the southern border.Called the Finish It Act, the legislation would require the federal government to either deploy the materials or transfer them to states, which would then use them to construct the wall.
“President Biden could not have created a worse border crisis if he tried, but he continues to stand in the way of a solution,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the bill’s sponsor, said in a statement in May.
“As Senate Republicans revealed earlier this year, his Administration is forcing the Department of Defense to spend millions of dollars a year to let border panels go unused when they could be used to secure our border.
“It is time for the President to put these materials to use and finish the wall.”
Amid reports that the Biden administration is busy selling off border wall components rather than allowing them to be used to build more wall, Mr. Wicker called the development “outrageous, behind-the-scenes maneuvering.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), co-sponsor of the Finish It Act and a frequent critic of President Biden’s border policies, was searing in his criticism of what he said amounted to a fire sale.
“Leaving the border open to terrorists while selling border security materials at a loss is ‘Bidenomics’ in a nutshell,” Mr. Cotton told the NY Post.
It’s unclear how much money from the sale of the materials has gone into the Pentagon’s budget.
Lt. Col. Devin T. Robinson told the NY Post that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has disposed of roughly $154 million worth of border wall materials out of a total stockpile worth about $260 million.