Trump’s Border Wall Could Imperil $345M Ala Wai Canal Flood Control Project
The president is considering declaring a national emergency and taking funds from Army Corps of Engineers projects
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The Trump administration is considering using billions in unspent disaster relief funds earmarked for areas including hurricane-pounded Puerto Rico and Texas and more than a dozen other states to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall as he weighs signing a national emergency declaration to get it built without Congress.
The White House has directed the Army Corps of Engineers to comb through its budget, including $13.9 billion in emergency funds that Congress earmarked last year, to see what money could be diverted to the wall as part of a declaration. That’s according to a congressional aide and administration official familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Among the funds at risk are $345 million appropriated last year for a project to help prevent Honolulu’s Ala Wai Canal from flooding in the event of a major storm.
For now, the Corps has no plans to slow down the project, Jeff Herzog, Ala Wai flood risk mitigation project manager for the Corps, said Thursday.
鈥淲hat guidance we have been given is to get this designed and built before the next big storm,鈥 said Herzog, who has been leading of city and state officials and Corps personnel to plan the project.
Herzog said the money for the Ala Wai project was in one of several pots of money Trump is reportedly eyeing. The money was appropriated in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which includes with a total price tag of $13.9 billion.
Given the increasing likelihood of a major storm and the magnitude of damage a flood could do to the heart of Hawaii鈥檚 tourism economy if Waikiki was inundated, the federal government should make the Ala Wai project a priority, Herzog said.
鈥淭he infrastructure was built years ago and can no longer handle the level of events we鈥檙e receiving,鈥 he said.
鈥淲hat guidance we have been given is to get this designed and built before the next big storm.鈥 鈥斅燡eff Herzog, Army Corps of Engineers, regarding the Ala Wai Canal project
Trump’s interest in the Corps budget is the latest sign that the administration is laying the groundwork for a possible emergency order as negotiations between Trump and congressional Democrats to reopen the partially shuttered government have ground to a halt. Trump is demanding billions for his wall that Democrats won’t give him. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are set to miss paychecks Friday.
Trump on Thursday gave his strongest public indication yet that he is leaning toward an emergency declaration as he traveled to the Texas border to continue to press his case for the wall.
Trump told reporters as he left the White House that he was still holding out hope for a deal, but that if it “doesn’t work out, probably I will do it. I would almost say definitely.”
Todd Semonite, commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers, was traveling with Trump on Thursday. The Army Corps of Engineers directed questions to the Pentagon, which directed questions to Congress.
The $13.9 billion in emergency disaster relief funds have been allocated but not yet obligated through contracts for a variety of projects in states including California, Florida and Texas and in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico that have been ravaged by recent hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters, according to the aide familiar with the matter.
The money funds a variety of projects, mostly flood control to prevent future disasters.
Officials have estimated that roughly one-quarter to one-third of the money, or $2.5 billion to $3 billion, could be available 鈥 less than the $5.7 billion Trump is seeking. The majority has also already been obligated 鈥 meaning that it has been spent or a contract has been signed and there would be penalties for cancellation.
Regardless of where the money is found, an emergency declaration would draw immediate legal challenge from Democrats, who have accused Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis at the southern border to justify his wall. Critics have said the move would be an unconstitutional abuse of emergency powers. Trump said Thursday that his lawyers have told him he has the “absolute right.”
Republican and Democratic lawmakers raised immediate concerns over shifting funds that have already been approved by Congress for projects in states across the nation.
Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, a top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said he has been hearing from lawmakers in recent days concerned that Army Corps projects in their states could be canceled or postponed.
“If they drag the money out of here,” Simpson said in an interview late Thursday, “a lot of members will have problem with it.”
