Associated Press/Charles Rex Arbogast
President Donald Trump is asking for a big down payment on his promised wall along the US-Mexico border, but it’s much less than experts expect such a wall to cost.
The White Houses’ fiscal year 2018 budget, set to be released Tuesday, will include $ 2.6 billion for increased border security, including $ 1.6 billion in funding for the wall according to Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney.
“The spending on the border security is $ 2.6 billion, of which I think $ 1.6 billion is actual bricks and mortar construction,” Mulvaney said Monday. “The other $ 1 billion is infrastructure and technology.”
The $ 2.6 billion in requested funding for the Department of Homeland Security’s border operations is up from $ 1.6 billion in 2017 according to Mulvaney.
This number is much less than the $ 8 billion to $ 12 billion Trump has suggested would be needed to build his wall.
Other analysts have estimated the cost for the wall will be up to $ 25 billion. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell even estimated the cost to be between $ 12 billion and $ 15 billion.
The proposed funding is just the first step in the process towards the 2018 budget and any funding for a border wall will likely face huge pushback from Democrats and even some Republicans.
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