January 23, 2024
Senator Schmitt Grills Nominee in Hearing for Record on Border Wall Materials
WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Eric Schmitt raised concerns about a nominee in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing for her irresponsible waste of taxpayer dollars when storing and auctioning off border wall construction materials:
BACKGROUND:
- As of January 2020, the Department of Defense had already allocated $260 million worth of construction materials on hand at the border.
- Instead of using the materials for their intended purpose, the administration instead chose to pay exorbitant prices to store the unused materials.
- Specifically, the Department of Defense was paying $130,000 per day to store the unused border wall construction materials.
- As this fact became known, the administration began auctioning off materials at an extreme discount.
- $4.4 million worth of materials was sold for only $156,000 – a 96% discount.
