Virginia, Arizona Among States Losing Military Construction Projects For Border Wall

Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET

Lawmakers from Virginia to Arizona learned Wednesday their states will lose millions in military construction projects as part of a plan to divert $3.6 billion in the Pentagon funds to help build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Virginia Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner slammed the move, saying their state alone will lose more than $77 million in planned construction projects to fund the wall. In all, four military projects will be impacted in Virginia.

"I'm deeply concerned about President Trump's plan to pull funding from critical national security projects – including millions of dollars from important projects in Virginia – so he can build his border wall," Kaine said. "The well-being of American troops is the core responsibility of every commander in the military, yet the Commander-in-Chief is shirking that duty so he can advance his own political agenda."

The comments come a day after the Pentagon began calling congressional leaders to alert them of the overall plans to begin cancelling $3.6 billion in military construction projects to fund new wall construction along the southwest border.

Among those alerted Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that the U.S. Military Academy at West Point would lose funding.

In Virginia, the state's Cyber Operations Facility at Joint Base Langley-Eustis would lose $10 million, Navy Ships Maintenance Facility in Portsmouth will lose more than $26 million and projects to replace hazardous materials warehouses in Norfolk and Portsmouth would lose a total of would lose $41 million.

"The decision by the President to divert funding meant to support U.S. national security interests so that he can build a border wall only makes us less safe," Warner said in a written statement. "Taking money away from our military – including funding to support critical projects here in Virginia – will mean we are less equipped to tackle threats here at home and abroad."

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who is facing a tough re-election bid in 2020, said a project involving a ground transport equipment building at Ft. Huachuca will lose $30 million in project funds.

In a statement, McSally downplayed the loss, saying it's a small fraction of the overall $3.6 billion and needed for national security. Also, the money could be backfilled by a provision in the proposed Senate version of the defense bill that aims to backfill the $3.6 billion through the fiscal year 2020 budget.

However, that same provision isn't in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act. Both chambers are slated to negotiate a final version of the NDAA in the coming months.

"We need to secure our border and protect our military; we can and should do both," McSally said. "This one project at Ft. Huachuca was already delayed because of ongoing environmental cleanup that is taking longer than expected."

Arizona is one of the states slated to get new funding related to wall construction projects.

In a letter Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper alerted members of the Senate and House Armed Services committees of the plans to proceed with cutting military construction projects in lieu of the wall.

In all, he detailed 11 wall projects that would be completed as a result of the diversion of Pentagon funds. They include new pedestrian fencing and barriers in San Diego, Calif., replacement of vehicle barriers in El Paso, Texas, and new fencing at the border in Yuma, Ariz.

Esper cites the national emergency that President Trump declared in February that required the use of armed forces for projects along the southwest border.

"Based on analysis and advice from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and input from the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of the Interior and pursuant to the authority granted to me in Section 2808, I have determined that 11 military construction projects along the international border with Mexico, with an estimated total cost of $3.6 billion, are necessary to support the use of the armed forces in connection with the national emergency," Esper states in a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash.

Congressional sources said the full list of cut military projects was slated to be released later Wednesday after all lawmakers were directly alerted of which ones were located in their districts. [Copyright 2019 NPR]