Senate Republicans’ new $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package would restore hundreds of millions of dollars in Pentagon spending that the Trump administration redirected to help pay for building President Trump’s border wall.
Projects involving Navy aircraft and ships and Air Force planes that the Trump administration canceled this year so the money could pay for the wall have reappeared in the GOP package, introduced Monday. The programs are part of $30 billion in defense spending in the GOP plan to which Democrats are objecting. Republicans are defending the spending as important to protect jobs and help the Pentagon cope with the impacts of the coronavirus.
The Trump administration’s move to “reprogram” Pentagon money to build Trump’s promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has been the subject of a long-running dispute between the administration and Congress. Lawmakers of both parties have objected, but the administration contends that it can move the Pentagon’s money without congressional approval. Continue reading.