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WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan on Friday informed Congress of his intention to transfer $ 1.5 billion to war in Afghanistan and other projects to fund President's border work Trump.
The money from other Pentagon programs will be the last one he has invested to help build about 80 km of fences and fences along the southern border, Shanahan said. The most recent funding change is in addition to the $ 1 billion that the Defense Department transferred to the construction of walls in March from the Army personnel budget.
Mr Shanahan insisted on Friday that the budget transfer would not affect the "availability", a military catch-all term that refers to the ability of American troops to fight when they are called. But some of the funds – $ 600 million – say the officials – "came from money that we underutilized or economized, or whatever, you know, from the terminology you want to use, from Afghanistan," he declares.
The Pentagon informed Congress of the funding change on Friday, a day after White House officials announced that Trump would appoint Shanahan to fill the vacancy when Jim Mattis resigned from his post as president. Secretary of Defense in December.
The pairing of the relocations will surely affect what was already going to be a difficult confirmation battle for Shanahan. In a letter to the interim Secretary of Defense on Friday, several Democratic senators sharply criticized the embezzlement of the Afghan war effort.
"Once again, the Ministry of Defense has ignored decades of precedent and cooperation with Congress to proceed with a transfer of funds without any consultation with the Credit Committee," says the letter signed by Senators Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, among others. "We are dismayed by the fact that the ministry has chosen to prioritize a promise of political campaigning before the needs of our members for disaster relief."
In the letter, the senators clearly made a connection to Mr. Shanahan's confirmation battle.
"We note that the decision to inform us of reprogramming occurs the day after your testimony before the Defense Subcommittee and a few hours after the announcement of the President's intention to appoint you to the Secretary of Defense," wrote senators. "We look forward to hearing your views on how you intend to repair the degraded links between Defense Oversight Committees and the department."
Lawmakers are particularly angry that the Pentagon is taking money for the war and using it for what the Democrats see as a political initiative to appease Trump's base. Nowhere in the national security strategy, which has been endorsed by Pentagon leaders, is it said that migrant caravans of people fleeing drug-related violence in Central American countries pose a threat to the national security.
Military budget experts said there was no law prohibiting Shanahan from diverting funds, but that could complicate the Department of Defense's task the next time military leaders surrender. at Capitol Hill to seek additional funds.
The Pentagon had planned to spend $ 4.9 billion in Afghanistan, mainly to support Afghan security forces who were fighting to keep parts of the country beyond Kabul, the capital, by Taliban militants. US officials said the $ 600 million that was diverted to the border came from savings found in the contracts.
A statement from a Pentagon spokesman, Tom Crosson, was notable in that it did not include – no word on Afghanistan and the financing of the war.
"The funding comes from a variety of sources, including cost savings, program changes, and revised requirements," he said. "This transfer of funds will not affect military readiness or benefits for members of the military service."
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