{"slug":"trump-pentagon-military-funds-border-wall-diversion","title":"Diverting $3.8 Billion in Military Funds to Border Wall After Congress Refused","date":"2020-02-13","lastUpdated":"2020-09-15","description":"After Congress declined to appropriate the full funding Trump demanded for a border wall, the Trump administration used emergency declaration powers to divert approximately $3.8 billion in Pentagon funds from military construction projects — including $400 million intended for a school for children of military families in Kentucky — to border wall construction. Multiple federal courts blocked the transfers; the Supreme Court allowed them to proceed on an emergency basis while litigation continued. The Government Accountability Office found the administration had violated the Impoundment Control Act.","summary":"In February 2020, the Trump administration announced the diversion of an additional $3.8 billion in military construction funds to border wall construction — funds that had been appropriated by Congress for specific military purposes including school construction at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; housing at Guantanamo; and facilities in Germany. Military families were directly affected when promised construction projects were canceled. The GAO had previously found that Trump's withholding of congressionally appropriated Ukraine security assistance violated the Impoundment Control Act; the same statutory framework applied to the Pentagon diversions.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/us/politics/trump-border-wall-military-funds.html","title":"Trump Redirects $3.8 Billion in Pentagon Funds for Border Wall","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-set-to-divert-38-billion-more-in-pentagon-funds-to-border-wall/2020/02/12/5e5e4234-4e10-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html","title":"Trump to divert $3.8 billion in Pentagon funds to border wall","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://www.gao.gov/products/b-331564","title":"GAO Decision: Office of Management and Budget — Impoundment of Ukraine Security Funds","publisher":"Government Accountability Office"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-border-wall-pentagon-military-funds","title":"Trump diverts $3.8 billion more in military funds to border wall","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["border-wall","military","Pentagon","first-term","rule-of-law","Congress","separation-of-powers"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2019-02-15","title":"Trump declares national emergency","summary":"After the 35-day shutdown ends without wall funding, Trump signs the spending bill but simultaneously declares a national emergency to access funds not appropriated for the wall. He describes it as a method to 'build the wall fast.'"},{"date":"2019-07-26","title":"First $2.5 billion Pentagon diversion","summary":"The Trump administration announces it will divert $2.5 billion from Pentagon drug interdiction programs to border wall construction, following court battles over the initial emergency declaration."},{"date":"2020-02-13","title":"Additional $3.8 billion Pentagon diversion","summary":"The administration announces an additional $3.8 billion diversion from military construction projects, including the Fort Campbell school for military families' children."},{"date":"2020-07-31","title":"Supreme Court allows diversions to continue","summary":"The Supreme Court votes 5-4 to stay lower court injunctions blocking the diversions, allowing construction to proceed while the legal battle continues."},{"date":"2021-01-20","title":"Biden halts construction","summary":"Biden signs an executive order on his first day halting border wall construction. Billions in diverted funds have already been spent; many sections of contracted wall segments go unbuilt."}],"location":{"name":"U.S. Southern Border / Fort Campbell, KY","lat":31.3,"lng":-110.9},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Children of military families whose school construction was canceled at Fort Campbell; military personnel and families whose construction projects were deferred; Congress's appropriations authority","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; declared national emergency to access military funds; directed Pentagon diversions","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-09-15","summary":"Updated with total diversion amounts."}]}}