The White House has begun auctioning off unused portions of the border wall rather than storing them.
When President Joe Biden took office, he thwarted the efforts of his predecessor, Donald Trump, to build the wall at the southern border. All the unused parts of the wall went to storage in the Southwest United States for $130,000 daily. It cost $47 million a year over the almost three years Biden has been in office.
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Auctioning site GovPlanet has already sold 81 lots of “square structural tubes” out of Arizona for $2 million. On Wednesday, the site will sell almost 1,000 lots more, and over 600 lots more on Aug. 30.
“Instead of securing the border, President Biden is auctioning off taxpayer-funded wall materials for pennies on the dollar,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “He cannot avoid Congress’ accountability and must use these parts for their intended purposes. BUILD the wall and FINISH it!”
Instead of securing the border, President Biden is auctioning off taxpayer-funded wall materials for pennies on the dollar.
He cannot avoid Congress’ accountability and must use these parts for their intended purposes. BUILD the wall and FINISH it! https://t.co/Hua0fNhroe
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) August 19, 2023
Ernst emphasized finishing the wall, referencing a bill she is cosponsoring called the Finish It Act, which was introduced in May in an attempt to complete construction. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) have also sponsored the bill.
“This sale is a wasteful and ludicrous decision by the Biden administration that only serves as further proof they have no shame,” Wicker told the New York Post.
“Leaving the border open to terrorists while selling border security materials at a loss is Bidenomics in a nutshell,” Cotton told the outlet.
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The language in the Finish It Act allows the secretary of defense to donate or transfer the wall pieces to Southern states who opt-in to finish the wall. The secretary would have 15 days from when the law is enacted to draft a plan to do so. For now, the bill has only been introduced in the Senate.
Meanwhile, illegal crossings into the U.S. at the souther border increased by 33% last month.
