Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., will reintroduce an amendment this spring that will prevent President Donald Trump from "irresponsibly siphoning our defense funds to pay for a useless wall idea," a move that comes after The Washington Post report said the president has been privately trying to get the Pentagon to fund his wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We can't allow Donald Trump to steal already-limited resources from our troops to fund a pointless border wall that will serve little other purpose than to satisfy his own fragile ego," Rep. Gallego wrote in a statement Wednesday, per The Hill. "This money is meant to help our men and women in uniform — not to fulfill ill-advised campaign promises.
"Last year, I introduced an amendment that would have prevented Trump from irresponsibly siphoning our defense funds to pay for a useless wall that will do nothing to keep our nation safe. I plan to reintroduce that amendment this spring when the House Armed Services Committee marks up this year's defense spending bill."
Trump campaigned on a promise to build a wall, and repeatedly insisted Mexico would pay for it, but that plan has not come to fruition. The president then asked for $18 billion to build the wall, but Congress only allocated $1.6 billion in its omnibus spending bill last week, irking him.
Trump told Defense Secretary James Mattis there would be a "national security" risk if the wall did not get built, and told House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the military should pay for it after $700 billion was allocated in defense spending.
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