While it is still uncertain what projects President Donald Trump will tap, the move isn’t unprecedented. President George W. Bush similarly tapped into military projects after he declared a national emergency following 9/11.
A military project for a middle school at Fort Campbell Army base could be in limbo since President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday allowing him to reallocate funds for his proposed border wall.
The $62 million project to construct Fort Campbell Middle School near the Tennessee/Kentucky border was one of the hundreds of military spending measures allocated in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019.
But the project could be on the chopping block.
Trump announced that he would free up $8 billion for his 234 miles of border wall. To do so, he would tap into a variety of government budgets including an attempt to access $3.6 billion in military construction money, according to USA TODAY.
Maj. Martin Meiners, spokesman for Fort Campbell, did not immediately return a request for comment.
The Pentagon said in a statement that while the president can reallocate funds, the government agency would play a hand in the spending.
“… this declaration of a national emergency at the southern border requiring the use of the armed forces authorizes the secretary of defense to determine whether border barriers are necessary to support the use of the armed forces and to re-direct obligated DOD MILCON funding to construct border barriers if required,” the Department of Defense said.
