The Hill article | The Hill | The Washington Post | Washington Post article The president will seek a legislative fix to the nation’s border wall this week after the House approved a package of funding for the project on Wednesday, but his team will likely be pressed to wait until Congress passes legislation before deciding on any final designs.
The House is expected to take up its final bill by the end of next week.
The White House has said it will also seek to increase funding for border security measures, including building fences and using unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the border, but it will likely face opposition from some conservatives in the House and Senate who want to keep the border barrier in place and ensure it remains a political football for the president.
But Trump has vowed to build a wall as soon as he becomes president and said he will keep Congress in the loop about any wall construction decisions.
On Wednesday, he gave a short speech to congressional leaders about the proposed border wall.
“If we’re going to have a border wall, we’re gonna build it,” Trump said.
“We’re going do it right.
We’re going build it right here in the United States of America.
It’s gonna be a wall.”
“We want to make sure we’re not using taxpayer dollars for a project that will be completely unnecessary and just a waste of taxpayer money,” he added.
“It’s not the right thing to do.
We are going to build the wall.”
Trump’s top legislative priority will be to pass a measure to fund the wall in a bill before lawmakers leave town in mid-July.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has said the bill would not be a replacement for the Secure Fence Act passed in October that would fund the border wall with a three-year funding window.
“That will have to be the only funding source that’s actually funded,” Ryan said Wednesday.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a substitute for the legislation that we’re trying to get done, but I think it is something we need to look at and we’ll be looking at it.”
The legislation would also require the department of Homeland Security to create a new “bipartisan commission” to study the cost of building the wall.
Ryan’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also said the border security package will include money for border control agents and equipment.
Trump has said he is considering spending $1 trillion to fund border security, and Ryan said he does not expect to see any additional spending beyond the $1.8 trillion the president has already committed to building a wall.
But Republicans have signaled that they will support any border security spending, and they are not likely to be united in opposition to Trump.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R, Calif.) said Wednesday that he was “very encouraged” that Congress would move quickly to secure the border.
“The president’s commitment to secure our border and keep Americans safe is a great example of how bipartisan leadership can move forward to improve our nation’s safety,” McCarthy said in a statement.
“This bipartisan package will fund the necessary border wall in its entirety and ensure the United
