The Pentagon awarded nearly $1 billion in military contracts to two companies to complete border wall construction projects in Texas and Arizona, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.
One $789 million contract was given to a company in Galveston, Texas for “border replacement wall construction” near El Paso, Texas. Another $187 million contract was given to Barnard Construction Company to “design-bid-build construction project for primary pedestrian wall replacement” in Arizona. The Pentagon described the projects as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to bar “drug-smuggling corridors.”
The Pentagon is able to sidestep Congress in awarding these contracts because of President Trump’s national emergency declaration, which he made in order to secure funding for his border wall pet project.
