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(CNN) - The Trump administration is preparing to take money from military construction funds, more than six months after it promised to do so to build sections of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to multiple officials Government and defense.
Although it is not clear what military construction would be suspended, the measure could put at risk projects such as command and control, drone, cyber and training facilities in the US. and abroad.
White House officials have held talks in recent weeks to begin planning the measure, two administration officials said, which would change the funds of the Department of Defense's military construction budget to fund the border wall. The measure would depend on the February emergency declaration of President Donald Trump, who has faced tough legal challenges.
However, in July, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to use $ 2.5 billion in drug funds from the Department of Defense to build parts of the wall while a judicial battle unfolds over whether the government has the authority to divert funds that were not allocated to the wall.
The use of these additional military construction funds could invite a new legal challenge.
Administration officials said the action was in progress, but it was not clear when the Pentagon would officially begin transferring the funds.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Defense officials have told CNN that the collection of military construction funds has undergone a long legal review by the Department of Defense and it is not clear if this process has been completed, something that must occur before the secretary defense. Mark Esper, can approve its use, a measure that will surely generate opposition from some members of Congress and judicial challenges.
To change the destination of the funds, the Secretary of Defense has to certify that the new project they are financing supports US military operations. UU.
On August 22, construction of approximately 124 miles of border wall system began, using 2.5 billion dollars from a different source of Defense Department funds. That wall, which will be in the El Paso, El Centro and Tucson regions, will replace damaged or obsolete barriers, according to the Customs and Border Protection Service.
Until August, no new miles of wall have been built, only old barriers replaced. The administration argues that the replacement has provided a new capacity to the wall.
Construction of approximately 5 additional miles is expected to begin in September 2019.
Additionally, "since April 2018, the Department of Defense has committed approximately $ 450 million for Active Service and National Guard deployments to the southwest border in support of the Department of Homeland Security," the Pentagon said in a statement to CNN on Thursday. , money he has paid for the thousands of soldiers deployed in support of the border.
The president has held regular meetings with advisors who demand to know why no more has been done on the wall. He recently told the advisors that he would grant them a pardon if they committed illegal acts while fulfilling their requirement to build a wall on the southern border by 2020, two officials confirmed to CNN. The Washington Post newspaper reported first reported on these comments.
While his spokesmen say he was just kidding, looks of amazement occur after Trump has told the advisers he is serious about finishing the wall, and stressed that this could be key to his re-election.
Officials had previously told CNN that they intended to take advantage of military construction funds only after contracting the construction of the border wall using other funds available to the administration, including funds for the confiscation of assets of the Treasury, the drug funds of the Pentagon and money allocated by Congress.
Trump announced his intention to change $ 3.6 billion in military construction funds to build the border wall in February. It is not clear whether the Department of Defense will commit the total amount immediately, especially because the measure is likely to create a legal challenge.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
Border wall