Many of the 41 Republican Senators who voted to stand with President Trump and his fake emergency declaration, instead of with the constitution or their constituents, have been coming in for heavy national and state criticism. In particular, Senators Martha McSally (R-AZ), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) are facing deserved in-state condemnation from key observers (see examples via links embedded on Senators’ names).
Expect the criticism to amplify after the release of a state-by-state list of potential military construction projects that could be imperiled in order to build Trump’s stupid and unnecessary border wall.
As Politico reported, “The Pentagon on Monday sent lawmakers a lengthy list of nearly $12.9 billion in unobligated military construction funds that could be raided to build more barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of President Donald Trump’s national emergency.” As the Los Angeles Times reports, the type of projects that could conceivably be raided in order to fund wall construction include, “military housing, school building repairs, hazardous material facilities, security measures, naval piers and airfields.”
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), among others, posted the full list from DoD. See here for a detailed project-by-project list of unawarded military construction projects from the Pentagon, listed by state. Below, we have tallied the total amount of state military construction projects that could be raided for each of those four states:
- Arizona: $148.16 million
- Colorado: $144.40 million
- Nebraska: $9.5 million
- North Carolina: $533.34 million
As Senator Jack Reed, the lead Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted in a statement, Trump “is planning to take funds from real, effective operational priorities and needed projects and divert them to his vanity wall.” And 41 Republican Senators gave a green light to the concept – Senators McSally, Gardner, Sasse, and Tillis owe their constituents and the American people an explanation given that there is no factual justification for their votes.
