Trump’s Emergency Border Wall Declaration to Fuel Partisan Fighting in Defense Bill by Karoun Demirjian – Washington Post
President Trump’s border wall — and the military construction projects he siphoned money from to help fund it — are going to take center stage at the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, as it attempts to finalize its annual defense bill amid several deeply partisan policy divides.
The panel’s ranking Republican, Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, is planning to challenge provisions in Chairman Adam Smith’s bill that would ban using Defense Department funds to pay for the construction of a border barrier and deny the Trump administration both reprogramming authority and money to backfill accounts the president has tapped to divert money toward border construction. It is part of a broader amendment that Thornberry is planning to tack an additional $17 billion onto Smith’s $733 billion defense authorization bill, which would bring it closer in line with both Trump’s budget request and legislation the GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee approved last month.
While the Republican effort is unlikely to prevail, it may serve as a preview of fights to come between the Senate and House, as lawmakers across a divided Congress try to strike a compromise to keep the Pentagon up and running…