As the end of the Biden era approaches, the departing administration is doing everything it can to make things more difficult for President-elect Donald Trump when he reenters the White House a little over a month from now. The incoming president has promised the American people that he will resume construction of the border wall that Joe Biden halted when he took office.
But Border Patrol agents have seen sections of unused wall material hauled away on a daily basis, and reportedly auctioned off with bids starting at five bucks.
A defense official told Fox News that selling wall material is simply to comply with the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act passed by lawmakers. This version of the NDAA requires the Department of Defense to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. That plan was submitted in March, the official said.
The official said that border states, including Texas, were given preference for materials. Both Texas and California requested and received border materials, Fox News reported.
The official told Fox News that almost 60% of unused material has been transferred to authorized recipients. The remainder was sold to GovPlanet.com, an online site that specializes in the resale of government goods.
Mark Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
"It is a vindictive move, there's no question about it. And it's a complete waste of taxpayer resources because they're selling this stuff pennies on the dollar, and then they're going to have to buy it back or buy new materials at full price. It's a total waste of money. It's an irresponsible management of resources."
Buy-back to build up border
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that he plans to purchase the wall material then give it to Trump.
“I’ve got $1 billion in my pocket to do it,” he said.
Krikorian says this illustrates what kind of person Joe Biden is.
"It's inexcusable. It's the kind of last minute, mean spirited, vindictive thing I would expect from a terrible person like Joe Biden. I'm sorry, this isn't even a policy matter anymore. This is just wrong."
