According to a recent report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Department of Defense contractors is being paid $6 million per day not to construct the Trump-era border wall they were hired to build. The report reveals that taxpayers are paying the contractors on the seven project sites millions per day to sit and watch the steel bake in the sun. So far, the Biden Administration has wasted $2 billion out of the $10 billion they’ve received in taxpayer money to build the wall.
Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning said he was outraged by the waste of taxpayer dollars and called it very “Bidenesque” to stubbornly refuse to spend the money and execute the law.
Sen. James Lankford, the leading Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management, called the irrational spending a real concern, especially with the border crisis happening right now. He said he has called out the federal waste for years but said that the Biden Administration is literally “going for broke” with this nonsense.
“Our border patrol agents are doing their best to secure our border, but they need additional barriers, roads, and technology to help keep us safe. Instead, 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,” Lankford said.
Some Republicans have suggested asking the Government Accountability Office for a ruling on whether or not President Biden can withhold congressionally authorized funds. While Biden is about to mark six months into his first term, the border crisis is worse than ever. The U.S Customs and Border Protection released the border crossing numbers for June, which included a 20-year high of 188,829 encounters, which was up 12% from May.
Border patrol agents and state troopers have also seized drugs at record numbers and agents are reporting high-speed chases as smugglers resist arrest. One national security guard official at the Center for Immigration Studies said the interior areas are in crisis now too.
Rep Jim Banks, the chairman of the RSC, said that the border wall construction is his “hill to die on” and that he will act accordingly to protect border security. He said that federal contractors have already received the taxpayer dollars to work and that they are literally being paid by the Biden Administration not to build the wall.
Lawmakers have continued to push to hold the Biden Administration accountable for their waste and abuse of taxpayers’ hard-earned money. The House Republican Study Committee even offered an alternative bill to give money directly to states that want to continue former President Donald Trump’s wall with Mexico.
Rep. Brian Babin, who proposed the bill, set up a mandatory funding stream for four states – Texas, California, Arizona, and New Mexico. He said it will help the border states that have been overwhelmed with the massive surge of illegal immigrants and deadly drugs pouring into the communities. While the Biden Administration has ignored their pleas for help, Babin said the legislation would set up $22 billion in block grants for border wall construction in the 2022 fiscal year.
“Our states have been fighting for border security all alone since January 20, and my hope is that this money will finally give them the resources they need to protect their citizens,” Babin said.
Democrats, however, have been taking the steps to prioritize the more “humane” treatment of migrants and focusing on the migrant processing systems. They said that the prolonged stay for asylum seekers does not pose a risk or threat to public safety, even though their anti-wall, pro-migration agenda is throwing money out the window.
While President Biden first ordered the administration to “study” the border wall construction and get back to him in 60 days with recommendations, it has been over 180 days and no study findings have been released by DHS or the Biden Administration. It is essential for the public to have access to these findings. Each day, they waste more taxpayer dollars and provide fewer answers.
Former President Donald Trump even warned that the construction companies would charge a king’s price for just sitting. They could’ve built a lot of wall in six months but the Democrats only want to advance their own agenda.
