The Pentagon is shifting $1.5 billion funds to help pay for construction of 130km of wall at the US-Mexican border, which was originally allocated for the Afghan security forces and other projects in Afghanistan, officials said Friday.
The transfer will included about $600 million from an account meant for Afghan forces, according to sources.
The move, however, was opposed by congressional Democrats, who also criticized a March transfer of $1 billion in military money to fund Republican President Donald Trump’s wall.
“The funds were drawn from a variety of sources, including cost savings, programmatic changes and revised requirements, and therefore will have minimal impact on force readiness,” said Acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
According to Shanahan, the US military had more than 4,000 service members on the border, including 19 aircraft.
All 10 Democrats on Senate appropriations subcommittees that handle defense, veterans affairs and related spending, wrote to Shanahan to oppose the decision. “We are dismayed that the Department has chosen to prioritize a political campaign promise over the disaster relief needs of our service members,” they said, as Reuters reported.
A US official said the latest transfer would include $604 million from funds for the Afghan security forces, which are struggling to hold territory against Taliban militants.
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