House Armed Services Committee Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that would restrict the amount of military construction funds the Pentagon is allowed to transfer between DOD accounts, The Hill reported.
The bill, proposed by Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and committee members Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Rep. John Garmendi (D-Calif.) is in response to DOD’s recent transfers of billions in Pentagon funds for President Trump’s southern border barrier construction.
A committee statement states the bill would limit national emergency military construction funds transfer authority at $250 million per emergency.
The bill would also restrict that only funds that cannot be used for their intended purpose could be transferred for an emergency. Additional information would also need to be provided to Congress upon notice of any transfers.
Last week Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan approved $1.5 billion from various DOD accounts and in March approved the transfer of an initial billion for barrier construction.
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