Trump’s Senate Republican allies give OK to $5B wall request
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s Republican allies controlling the Senate are awarding him with his full $5 billion request to build about 200 miles (322 kilometers) of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border.
That’s according to a Senate aide familiar with a $53 billion draft funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
It comes after Trump roiled Capitol Hill by transferring $6.1 billion from Pentagon accounts to get around lawmakers opposed to his border wall.
Trump won $1.4 billion earlier this year through the regular budget process. He almost immediately declared a national emergency that triggered his ability to conduct a recently announced $3.6 billion transfer from military base construction.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has criticized Trump’s moves to fund the border fence.
The aide requested anonymity Tuesday because the legislation was not yet public.