Dems make last-ditch effort to ban wall funds from defense bill

07/14/17 12:40 PM EDT



Democrats made a last-minute attempt Friday to ban the use of Defense Department funds in the construction of a proposed border wall, but their effort was shot down 190-235 on a party-line vote.

The motion introduced by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, would have reinstated language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that prohibited any funding in the bill from being used for the wall.

The language was stripped from the bill by the Rules Committee on Tuesday night.

After Lujan Grisham's motion failed, the NDAA passed the House in a 344-81 vote.The language banning Pentagon funds for wall construction was adopted by a voice vote in the Armed Services Committee last month, with the chairman saying it should pass to avoid wasting time on issues that the defense bill has no effect on.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) criticized the Rules Committee procedure as “a legislative magic trick, a sneaky gimmick designed to disguise their actions.”


http://thehill.com/latino/342054-dem...m-defense-bill