Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
- President Donald Trump will ask Congress for $8.6 billion dedicated to building a wall along the southern US border in the 2020 congressional budget, according to a new report from Reuters.
- Though the Democrat-controlled House is unlikely to approve the request, the move would provide Trump some political traction in 2020, showing wall supporters Trump’s continued dedication to the issue, which he’s touted since his 2015 campaign.
- The request comes just over three months after Trump triggered a government shutdown over a standoff with lawmakers who would not allocate $5 billion for the wall. In February, Trump declared a national emergency in an attempt to secure funding for the wall, but it is now in limbo as it looks like Congress will block it.
President Donald Trump will reportedly ask Congress for $8.6 billion in the 2020 budget for the construction of a wall along the southern US border.
Reuters reported Sunday that when Trump submits his 2020 congressional budget Monday, he will be asking for more than six times what Congress allowed for border projects in each of the past two fiscal years in his latest attempt to push forward his long-touted border wall.
The funding for the wall would reportedly pull $5 billion from the Department of Homeland Security budget in addition to $3.6 billion from the military construction budget at the Pentagon. The proposal would include a separate $3.6 million of military construction funds for projects affected by the wall.
In addition to the money, the report says the proposal will also request an additional 100 immigration judge teams and 2,800 law enforcement and other border enforcement personnel.
Though the Democrat-controlled House is unlikely to approve the request, one official told Reuters that the move would provide some political traction for Trump in the 2020 election among his supporters, to whom he’s been touting the wall since 2015.
"It gives the president the ability to say he has fulfilled his commitment to gain operational control of the southwest border," an administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the budget request.
Congress is facing an October 1 deadline to approve the 2020 budget.
Trump previously enacted what became the longest shutdown in government history when he did not relent in debates with lawmakers through December 2018 on his request for $5 billion to be allocated for the wall.
After Trump re-opened the government in January, Congress eventually approved $1.375 billion for various barriers along the border before Trump issued a national emergency to secure $8 billion for the wall.
The national emergency was the latest splinter between the administration and Congress, with the House voting to cancel the emergency and the Senate seemingly on the very of doing so despite the White House’s promise to veto the votes. A collection of state governments have sought to sue Trump, but legal next steps are unclear.
See Also:
- Trump says Democrats have ‘become an anti-Israel party, an anti-Jewish party’ after the latest fight over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments
- Most Americans do not think Trump should be impeached, new poll shows
- The Senate is poised to reject Trump’s national emergency declaration, but the White House has promised to veto
SEE ALSO: A journey along the entire 1,933-mile US-Mexico border shows the monumental task of securing it
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Ellen Cranley)