Financial officer Department of defense David Norquist said Wednesday lawmakers that from the accounts Department was transferred to the Engineering corps of the army $ 1 billion on Tuesday evening for the construction of the separation wall on the border with Mexico. We are talking about the first money actually going to the Wall trump.
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Acting Minister of defense Patrick Shanahan during a trip to Florida, told reporters that the Pentagon has always planned to move ahead with the plan of transfer of money, regardless of the perceived «effects»:
«We follow the law. We are very sensitive to the consequences of such actions and the relationships that we have established over time. There will be consequences, and I understand the position of the committees. But I also have an order from the commander-in-chief».
Earlier, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on defense appropriations Congress Pete Visclosky, declined the offer of the Pentagon to transfer money. «The Committee rejects this request,» wrote Visclosky on Tuesday in a letter to Norquist, which was published the next day. «These funds were neither requested nor appropriated for activities described in reprogramming. These unilateral actions, the historic and unprecedented politeness that existed between the Committee and the Department have been violated».
Trump announced on 15 February a state of emergency on the southern border to get billions of dollars for the financing of the boundary wall. This step allows the President to use more powers and order the Pentagon to withdraw money from their accounts to build border barrier.
The administration plans to receive a total of $ 6.1 billion from the accounts of the Pentagon ($ 2.5 billion from programs for drug enforcement and $ 3.6 billion of military construction funds).
The Pentagon may transfer funds as it does not require by law the approval of Congress. But it violates the longstanding informal rule, when officials of the Ministry of defense to notify Congress in advance of such transfers, providing legislators the opportunity to approve or reject the request — something Pentagon officials traditionally listen.
Now this tradition is allowing the Pentagon to reprogram funding has already been allocated for rapid response to threats and changes in the world — is under threat. The Chairman of the armed services Committee, Adam Smith told Shanahan during a panel hearing on Tuesday that the Pentagon is likely to lose the authority to reprogram if you make a transfer of funds.
Norquist, who spoke today before a budget Committee of Congress, said that the decision on the transfer of funds came from senior management: «We created a demand and treated it the way we asked for.»
Shanahan at the hearing on Tuesday acknowledged that officials are «aware of the fundamental shortcomings of the loss of the privilege to dispose of the funds,» but added that they will move forward under the leadership of the White house. He said Pentagon officials had informed the administration about the long-term risks for the Department, but that they received «orders from the commander-in-chief» and comply with the order.
