Biden quietly auctions off border wall parts to stunt Republican effort to restart construction: rep
Shipping containers were installed to fill gaps in the unfinished wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Some of the containers are shown on Dec. 29, 2022, in Yuma, Arizona.(Qian Weizhong / VCG via Getty Images)
Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, noted that an investigation found the Department of Defense has been spending $47 million per year, or $130,000 per day, to store the leftover border wall panels in the Southwest.
In May, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced the Finish It Act. The legislation would require the federal government to use previously purchased and unused border wall panels to extend the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border or to transfer them to state governments – such as Texas – to be used for wall construction.
Migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border wall in El Paso, Texas, surrender to Border Patrol agents on May 11, 2023.(Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
The Post reported that the GovPlanet auction schedule picked up in May when Wicker first introduced the Finish It Act, and again this month when the Democrat-led Senate passed the annual defense appropriations package that included the Republican-sponsored bill to restart border wall construction. GOP lawmakers told the Post that the Biden administration is rushing to sell off more leftover border wall parts before the House, led by Republicans, can pass corresponding legislation.
"This sale is a wasteful and ludicrous decision by the Biden administration that only serves as further proof they have no shame," Wicker said, condemning it as "outrageous, behind-the-scenes maneuvering."
"Leaving the border open to terrorists while selling border security materials at a loss is Bidenomics in a nutshell," bill co-sponsor Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told the Post.
"The pennies made from selling the border wall will not be enough to pay the families who suffer from a criminal act committed by someone who crossed our open borders during the Biden administration," said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., denounced the first sale of border wall parts as "reckless."
"Our borders continue to be overrun by an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants, turning every district into a border district and compromising our national security," Stefanik told the Post
Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., whose district is where the border wall parts have been stored while awaiting auction, criticized Biden for his "refusal to act."
"The federal government needs to be utilizing every tool in the toolbox to secure our border," he said. "Instead of putting these materials to their intended use, they have been squandered, first collecting dust in the desert and now being auctioned off."
"President Biden has no regard for taxpayer dollars or how his open border is bankrupting communities across the country that are footing the bill for his failures," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., added. She is fighting to prevent migrants from being housed in New York City parks and military sites.
