The acting defense secretary is still mulling which projects to cut to fund the border wall

Patrick Shanahan.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday he has yet to choose which military projects may have funding reallocated to pay for border wall construction following President Trump's national emergency declaration.

The Trump administration reportedly identified $3.6 billion from the military construction budget and $2.5 billion from a Defense Department drug interdiction fund, but Shanahan has ultimate approval on how much can be taken from which programs. "Very deliberately, we have not made any decisions," Shanahan said.

One military official told Reuters Shanahan is likely to approve the targeted amount from the construction budget. But Shanahan said that one area that will not be touched is military housing, which has come under scrutiny lately for poor standards.

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The Pentagon is also still reviewing whether the wall is necessary to support the use of armed forces.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.