https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/18/government-funding-thursday-shutdown-approaches-071344 Congress strikes stopgap funding deal, postpones border wall fight By JOHN BRESNAHAN and CAITLIN EMMA House and Senate leaders secured a deal on Monday afternoon that would extend government funding for four more weeks and sidestep a debilitating government-wide shutdown. The continuing resolution unveiled by House Democrats would last until Dec. 20, leaving out any restrictions on border barrier spending, which President Donald Trump demanded in exchange for his signature. The current stopgap expires Thursday night. The bill would fund a 3.1 percent military pay raise, it would provide extra cash to help the Commerce Department gear up for the 2020 census and it would allow state highway programs to avoid a $7.6 billion cut this summer. It also includes a number of health extenders and renews three expiring surveillance provisions through March. House Democrats, however, did not secure funding for historically black colleges and universities, an item among their requested policy riders. “It is profoundly disappointing and deeply shameful that the Senate GOP has yet again turned their back on America’s young people and these historic institutions,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. The House is expected to vote Tuesday on the agreement. Neither the White House nor congressional leaders believe a shutdown will occur — especially as House Democrats move forward with an impeachment inquiry against the president. But nearly two months into the new government fiscal year, no progress has been made on any of the 12 annual spending bills. And this comes despite a highly touted budget agreement hammered out between the White House and Congress this summer. Senior members of the House and Senate Appropriations panels had been hopeful that a deal on subcommittee allocations for the 12 individual spending bills would emerge over the weekend, which could be announced alongside the text of a stopgap spending package on Monday. But that optimism waned. “I think the 302(b) talks have stalled a little bit,” a Democratic aide told POLITICO. “We’re still trading papers, but they’re not going to be finished today.” Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby was downbeat on Monday night, saying that spending talks have been “frustrating,” with progress coming in fits and starts and both sides still stuck on how to finance the president’s border barrier. “The tenor has been good, the tone of negotiations have been good. The results are puny,” the Alabama Republican said. “I think we could have reached an agreement a month ago, and we should have,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Last-minute negotiations over several issues ensnared the finishing touches on the short-term spending fix. Republicans had insisted on a "clean" short-term continuing resolution, without policy riders. But House Democrats wanted to add roughly $7.5 billion for the Census Bureau, providing the agency with its full operating budget as it prepares for the 2020 count. Republicans wanted to leave the issue to bicameral conference negotiations on full-year spending bills, according to a House Democratic aide. House Democrats also wanted to fund a military pay increase and provide historically black colleges and universities with mandatory funding that lapsed at the end of fiscal 2019 in September, and they wanted to address a $7.6 billion rescission in highway funds that will take effect in July 2020. Shelby said earlier this month that negotiating special exceptions like this is "always a problem." “My preference is always a clean CR and clean appropriations," he said. When it comes to spending levels, there are disagreements over whether to use emergency cash to pay for bipartisan initiatives like the VA Mission Act — a new veterans program that Trump himself has championed — in order to free up some money for the Department of Homeland Security and Trump’s border wall. The controversial border wall project had long been the sticking point in the 2020 spending talks as Democrats refuse to approve any money for Trump's signature issue. Trump diverted several billion dollars in Pentagon funds last year, infuriating Democrats. The issue is now in federal court. But during a meeting last Thursday between Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and congressional appropriators, the two sides agreed to set aside the border wall stalemate for the moment and move forward with other spending bills. That was supposed to yield a quick agreement on spending allocations, although that hasn't happened up until now.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...-two-years-later-trumps-wall-remains-unbuilt/ President Donald Trump’s signature promise — building a “big, beautiful wall” on the Mexican border — has not gone according to plan. Trump long ago gave up on making Mexico pay for the wall, and instead declared a national emergency and raided the military construction budget to move forward with the project. Even as it stands, engineers have mostly just upgraded or replaced existing fences, and CBP estimates that by the end of next year, only 110 miles of completely new barriers will have been constructed. The 100 miles is a generous estimate imo.If courts keep stopping Trump from spending money Congress did not authorize him to spend it might be 0 miles of new wall. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...ding-amid-environmental-lawsuit-against-trump Three border wall projects reportedly canceled due to lack of funding amid environmental lawsuit against Trump by Ellie Bufkin | September 14, 2019 The Trump administration reportedly canceled three projects to build parts of the barrier wall at the U.S. southern border in Arizona and California. A Friday court filing by the legal team representing the Trump administration in a civil suit indicated funds for the three construction projects were insufficient to continue building. The lawsuit, filed against the president and several Cabinet members in February, accuses the administration of illegally declaring a state of emergency in order to obtain funding for the border wall. The Center for Biological Diversity and several other environmental organizations are named as plaintiffs in the case. "Of the 58 times presidents have previously declared emergencies under the National Emergencies Act, none involved using the emergency powers to fund a policy goal after a president failed to meet that goal through foreign diplomacy (having Mexico pay for the wall) or the congressional appropriations process," the original complaint said. "Never before has a president used the emergency powers granted to him by Congress in such a manner." The lawsuit calls for the president and his administration to cease construction of the barrier at the southern border, citing concerns for wildlife. "Of particular concern to Plaintiffs and their members, border barriers prevent the passage of wildlife, and could result in the extirpation of jaguars, ocelots, and other endangered species within the United States," it reads. "The use of funds for such barriers that on information and belief are directed at least in part to investigating and where relevant prosecuting organized criminal activities related to illegal wildlife trafficking further harms Plaintiffs’ interests in protecting and preserving biological diversity." The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental activist group, boasts on their website that they have sued the Trump administration and the president personally 158 times. U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment on the matter.
White House to set up cameras to livestream border wall construction: report By Danielle Wallace Published November 13 President Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner and other White House officials are planning to set up web cameras to livestream construction along the border wall, according to a report. Kushner first offered the proposal during a July meeting, pitching the idea as a way to confront criticism that Trump has not followed through on his signature 2016 campaign promise, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed officials. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have told Kushner they’re opposed to the initiative because certain construction contractors do not want their proprietary techniques shown to competitors, the sources told the Post. Trump reportedly asked Kushner to reinvent messaging and communication about the border wall project after the government shutdown last year. The current website for the CBP shows information about construction along the border, but a new site, currently being designing by Trump administration’s chief digital officer Ory Rinat, will reportedly incorporate the live camera feeds, allowing the public to visibly track the wall’s progress. Under the Trump administration, 81 miles of border wall, most of which was built as "replacement" barrier to reinforce older fencing, has been completed. The new barriers built of steel bollards stand anywhere from 18 to 30 feet tall. An additional 155 miles of border fencing is currently under construction. And 273 miles are under “preconstruction,” according to the most recent CBP data. The Trump administration aims to build a total of 400 to 500 miles of border wall to complete the project. The project has been facing delays as officials work to acquire privately held land in Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border. It has cost taxpayers $10 million to date, the Post reported.
This cracks me up: "Proprietary". Wtf is "proprietary"? They're building a f'n wall. The only thing "proprietary" they don't want getting out is how much money they're bilking the govt out of on this boondoggle. My thoughts on this: https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/...are-getting-played.329884/page-2#post-4807946