While President Biden’s administration is busy putting out various fires, they’ve decided to kick up some dust down south, quietly auctioning off materials reserved for the border wall’s construction.
GovPlanet, a platform notorious for government agencies peddling off unused assets, suddenly listed structural tubes designed for, you guessed it, our southern border wall. An insider source spilled the beans to The Daily Upside, revealing that these materials are unquestionably from the border wall plans. The catch? The team behind the auction had to remain hush-hush about their true origin, or they risked losing their jobs.
The backdrop to this is a bit of a policy roller-coaster. Remember 2020, when the Trump administration masterfully redirected Pentagon funds toward the construction of these border wall materials? Fast forward to the Biden era, and over $300 million from the military’s pocket has been spent, not on bolstering border security, but merely on storing these materials, as Senator Roger Wicker pointed out.
The Defense Logistics Agency confirmed this slightly baffling move, acknowledging the ongoing sales of these unused materials, many of which have been merely gathering dust in the southwestern U.S. And the numbers are no joke. One lot fetched a price of $29,100, and since April, the administration has auctioned off 81 lots of steel parts, with thirteen more up for grabs later this month.
What’s a bit confounding here is the timing. With legislation efforts urging the Biden administration to pick up where Trump left off and resume wall construction, selling these materials could burn a deeper hole in the taxpayer’s pocket. If wall construction reignites, repurchasing these materials could set the government back by millions. This hasty sale raises eyebrows, as critics view it as a pre-emptive strike against the push to complete the wall, a wall that could potentially address the mounting border crisis.
The southern frontier has been a hotspot for illegal immigration, reaching record highs during Biden’s presidency. With the administration’s decision to liquidate essential assets at such a pivotal time, one has to wonder if short-term financial gain is being prioritized over long-term national security.
