The federal U.S. budget has so far only earmarked approximately US$1.4 billion for the construction of the border fence President Trump is planning to build on the U.S.-Mexico border. Following the declaration of a federal emergency, the Trump administration is also diverting US$3.6 billion from the Department of Defense budget for construction and military housing.
While the Department of Defense has approximately US$716 billion at its disposal for FY2019, construction and housing is a rather small budget item at US$10.5 billion. Trump’s demand exceeds the annual budget for Air Force construction and all family housing construction for Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, as seen in the graphic. Taking away US$3.6 billion would also be equal to halting for a year all DOD construction in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia combined.
The White House said that another US$2.5 billion for wall construction should be taken from the military’s anti-narcotics funding and that US$600 million should come out of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund, which is where money seized from criminal suspects is collected.
Trump to Dip Into Defense Construction Budget For Border Wall
Border Wall
Description
This chart shows a breakdown of the FY 2019 U.S. defense construction budget and Trump demands from that budget for a border wall.
