On Monday, the Trump administration plans to request $2 billion in new funding for the border wall along the United States-Mexico border. Last year, the White House wanted $5 billion to put towards the highly-anticipated border wall.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the White House is asking for significantly less funding because the administration received resources by redirecting military funds from the Department of Defense. The new funding would go towards new sections of the wall that still need to be planned.
Last year, the White House requested Congress allot an additional $5 billion toward the wall project, with another $3.6 billion going to military construction projects to replenish the money the administration shifted to help pay for wall construction. This year’s budget request won’t include any money to reimburse the military.
President Trump has continually had a showdown with House Democrats over appropriations for the border wall. In 2018, Trump asked Congress for $18 billion to build the wall. Congress decided roughly $5 billion was adequate enough. Because of that, the president refused to sign the budget, which led to a government shut down. As payback, Congress scaled the funding back to $1.325 billion.
