Jonathan Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, said the Department of Defense has identified 127 domestic and overseas military construction projects that could be postponed to free up $3.6B in funds to support barrier projects at the southern U.S. border, DoD reported Wednesday.
Hoffman told reporters that the Pentagon assessed a list of border construction projects the Department of Homeland Security sent in February to identify projects that could support the use of the armed forces in response to a national emergency declared at the border.
Defense Secretary and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Mark Esper “has determined that such construction projects are necessary to support the use of the armed forces. Therefore, DOD will undertake 11 border barrier military construction projects on the southern border pursuant to section 2808 of Title X, U.S. Code,†Hoffman said.
He said DoD will immediately hand over to the Army the first $1.8B related to deferred overseas projects and deliver the second half of the funding to the service once it is needed for obligation.
