WASHINGTON, Mar 11: US President Trump plans to seek $8.6 billion for additional barriers along the southern US border as part of his budget proposal to be released on Monday, a potential prelude to another fight over funding the president’s long-promised border wall, US media reported.
According to the official source, the money will be used to build or replace roughly 700 miles (1127 Km) of barriers along the US-Mexico border.
Addressing the media on Sunday, White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said building the wall is of “paramount importance” and that he expected Trump to “stay with the wall.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement that they would block the budget proposal containing the 8.6-billion-dollar wall money.
“President Trump hurt millions of Americans and caused widespread chaos when he recklessly shutdown the government to try to get his expensive and ineffective wall,” the joint statement said, “Congress refused to fund his wall and he was forced to admit defeat and reopen the government. The same thing will repeat itself if he tries this again.”
In December 2018, when the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives refused to pass a spending bill allowing 5.7 billion dollars for the border wall as asked by Trump, the US federal government went into partial shutdown. Trump later agreed to sign off on a spending bill with 1.375 billion dollars for border fencing projects to reopen the government, but tried to circumvent Congress by declaring a national emergency that would allow him to tap into other funds to build the wall.
The US Congress is expected to block the national emergency in the near future, as multiple Republican lawmakers anxious to preserve Congress’ power of the purse voiced their opposition to the national emergency.
(UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
