Senate

Top Dem wants DHS to brief committee on Trump border wall

by Jordain Carney - 03/07/17 3:43 PM ET

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is asking the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to brief a key Senate committee on how it will pay for President Trump’s border wall.

“I request that DHS provide a briefing for the committee regarding DHS’ acquisition process and funding for this requirement,” she wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

McCaskill — the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — added that she wants the briefing by March 13.

{mosads}The department announced late last month that it would start soliciting ideas to “design and build of several prototype wall structures in the vicinity of the United States border with Mexico” in early March.

As part of the briefing, McCaskill is asking the DHS to provide details on how it will pay for the wall and a formal estimate for how much it will cost, as well as details on the solicitation that was published late last month and any analysis of border wall alternatives.

If the department is planning to shuffle funding to pay for the wall, McCaskill wants details on where the money is coming from.

“[What] programs have been identified to receive funding cuts or be completely eliminated, as a result of any potential repurposing of appropriations for [Customs and Border Protection] or DHS as a whole, and what the size of those funding cuts will be,” she asked.

McCaskill noted Tuesday that she sent a letter on Feb. 16 but didn’t receive a response.

Tags Claire McCaskill