Jacksonville, FL — President Trump is redirecting $3.6 billion from military construction projects authorized by Congress and putting it toward border security instead, by declaring a national emergency. WOKV's Washington Insider Jamie Dupree says, despite the commitment, the Administration has not yet answered what construction projects that will impact.
The FY 2019 federal budget puts more than $110 million toward two big projects for Naval Station Mayport- around $82 million for a Littoral Combat Ship Support Facility and more than $29 million for an addition to the LCS Operational Training Facility. Mayport is a homeport for one of two variants of that ship, with five currently housed at the base and 16 overall slated by 2023.
GALLERY: LCS infrastructure at Naval Station Mayport
Jacksonville Democratic Congressman Al Lawson believes the President’s funding decisions threaten those projects.
“The president’s manufactured crisis is threatening the training, readiness and quality of life of our military and their families by targeting the LCS Support Facility and the LCS Operational Training Facility Addition, two high-priority construction initiatives in Jacksonville,” says a statement from Lawson.
Jacksonville Republican Congressman John Rutherford says he supports the President’s emergency declaration and executive action to direct more money to border security- which is what these military construction dollars will be used for. He believes the White House is looking at using unspent construction dollars from prior years for the border wall.
“Through our conversations with the Department of Defense and the Appropriations Committee, we do not expect Fiscal Year 2019 projects such as those at Naval Station Mayport to be impacted by this declaration. As a member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, I am committed to ensuring our warfighters and their families have the resources they need to defend our nation,” says a statement from Rutherford.
Jamie reports that the President's actions are redirecting around $6 billion toward border security, which is added to the nearly $2 billion approved by Congress as part of the compromise funding plan that also averted a partial government shutdown.
There have already been legal challenges promised in the aftermath of the President’s declaration, so it’s not immediately clear if the funding plan will get in motion as the courts take up the issue.