Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is going to have to reckon with House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith before he follows through on taking $1 billion in military funding from the projects for which it was intended in order to build 57 miles of border wall.
“The committee denies this request,” Smith says in a letter to the Defense Department. “The committee does not approve the proposed use of Department of Defense funds to construct additional physical barriers and roads or install lighting in the vicinity of the United States border.”
In addition to congressional Democrats (and some Republicans) opposing the transfer of money from military construction projects, the border wall will face some tough legal challenges.