Connecticut's 2nd District representative Joe Courtney says the Trump administration's transfer of $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for more of the wall along the southern U.S. border sets a "dangerous and irresponsible" precedent.
Courtney, who serves on the House Armed Services committee said the funds are coming from 127 projects that were negotiated in a bipartisan way, and vetted by the Pentagon before even being submitted to Congress.
"This is not a wish list, these were not earmarked. It's not pork," he told Connecticut Public Radio.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who approved the transfer Tuesday after Trump's order, has suggested that Congress should reapply for those projects in the upcoming budget.
But Courtney said that will be tricky because there is already a new line of projects waiting for funding, including an investment of $73 million to pay for a new pier at the Groton Submarine Base.
"It just creates a lot of disruption and uncertainty about what that means for projects that are in the queue right now in the 2020 budget like Groton's,' said Courtney. "This is a really bad move."
Courtney said rather than funding a wall along the southern border, the administration’s focus should be on helping to process the enormous backlog of asylum requests.
