Senate report says Biden wasting billions in taxpayer money to not build border wall:

Senate report says Biden wasting billions in taxpayer money to not build border wall: 'Going for broke'

Chris Enloe
July 26, 2021

President Joe Biden is being accused of wasting billions in taxpayer dollars by canceling construction of the border wall that began under former President Donald Trump.

On Biden's first day in office, he froze money being used in construction of the border wall, effectively ending one of Trump's signature presidential promises. Biden also has, throughout his tenure, canceled construction permits for the border wall.

What are the details?

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management released a report last week detailing the taxpayer dollars being spent on guarding construction materials that have gone unused because of Biden's orders canceling construction of the wall.

According to the report, Biden's administration has spent about $2 billion — or $3 million per day — on costs associated with canceling wall construction.

"By the end of the Trump Administration, $10 billion had been transferred to U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) accounts for border wall construction and related projects. As of June 2021, the Biden Administration has wasted roughly 20 percent ($2 billion) of that $10 billion on suspension and termination costs related to border wall contracts," the report states.

"The Biden Administration is paying contractors at least $3 million per day to guard steel, concrete, and other materials in the desert," the report explains. "This waste of taxpayer resources threatens military readiness and national security."

Over the same time, hundreds of thousands of migrants, traveling north from Central America, have entered into the U.S through the southern border. The number of migrant apprehensions for fiscal year 2021 rocketed passed 1.1 million last month after Border Patrol agents intercepted nearly 190,000 migrants in June alone.

According to the Senate report, 738 miles of border wall have been funded, yet only 453 miles have been completed.

What was the reaction?

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) blasted Biden in a statement, noting how Biden is literally paying to "not build the border wall."

"For years I have called out federal waste, but the Biden Administration is literally 'going for broke' with this nonsense," Lankford said in a statement.

"President Biden is paying professional construction contractors to babysit metal to the tune of $2 billion and counting, while at the same time we've seen a 20-year high number of migrants crossing our open border," he added. "It is absolutely absurd that Americans are paying contractors to guard metal gates that President Biden refuses to install because he wants to 'study' the wall."

A Pentagon spokesman, however, told Fox News the Defense Department "will not comment publicly on matters that are in active litigation or settlement discussions."

https://www.theblaze.com/news/senate...not-build-wall