Trump Plans $8 Billion for Border Wall Invoking His Own Authority

Plans to redirect nearly $7 billion approved for other uses
Congress approved spending package averting second shutdown

The White House says Trump will sign the compromise spending bill to avert another shutdown. Derek Wallbank reports.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Margaret Talev and Justin Sink

February 15, 2019 at 1:56 AM UTC

Updated on

February 15, 2019 at 4:12 AM UTC

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Donald Trump plans to use unilateral authority to spend about $8 billion to construct physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a White House official, a maneuver that risks provoking a lengthy legal battle over presidential powers.

The president will invoke an emergency declaration to redirect $3.5 billion Congress approved for the Defense Department’s military construction budget, said another person familiar with the deliberations. Trump also will use his ordinary executive authority to reprogram $2.5 billion from the Defense Department’s drug interdiction efforts and $600 million from the Treasury department’s drug forfeiture program, said the person, who asked not to be identified to discuss plans ahead of announcement.