The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help President Donald Trump pay for his long-sought border wall, a top Senate Democrat claimed.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin told The Associated Press: 'It's coming out of military pay and pensions. $1 billion. That's the plan.'
Durbin said the funds are available because Army recruitment is down and a voluntary early military retirement program is being underutilized.
The development comes as Pentagon officials are seeking to minimize the amount of wall money that would come from military construction projects that are so cherished by lawmakers.
The Pentagon is planning to tap $1 billion in leftover funds from military pay and pension accounts to help Donald Trump pay for his border wall, Democrat Senator Dick Durbin (pictured) said
Durbin said: 'Imagine the Democrats making that proposal - that for whatever our project is, we're going to cut military pay and pensions.'
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel for the Pentagon, was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who met with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday morning.
The Pentagon is planning to transfer money from various accounts into a fund dedicated to drug interdiction, with the money then slated to be redirected for border barriers and other purposes.
More attention has been paid to Trump's declaration of a national emergency to tap up to $3.6 billion from military construction projects to pay for the wall.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats denied the president's last request for border wall money
Pentagon officials are seeking to minimize the amount of wall money that would come from military construction projects that are so cherished by lawmakers for Trump's border wall
The Democratic-controlled House voted last month to reject Trump's move, and the GOP-held Senate is likely to follow suit next week despite a White House lobbying push.
The Army missed its recruiting goal this year, falling short by about 6,500 soldiers, despite pouring an extra $200 million into bonuses and approving some additional waivers for bad conduct or health issues.
Congress also appropriated money to give members of the military incentive to take early retirement, but enrollment in the program is coming in well under expectations.
'This is pay that would have gone to Army recruits that we can't recruit,' Durbin said.
'So there's a 'savings' because we can't recruit. The other part was they offered a voluntary change in military pensions, and they overestimated how many people would sign up for it.'
Meanwhile on Monday, President Donald Trump on Monday will ask Congress to give him $8.6 billion to build his border wall, setting up another clash with Democrats over his signature campaign promise.
The president's demand is more than six times what Congress allocated for border projects in each of the past two fiscal years, and 6 percent more than Trump has corralled by invoking emergency powers this year.
And it's in addition to the roughly $6.5 billion the president said he would redirect under emergency powers after Democrats denied his request for $5.7 billion to help build the wall.
The $8.6 billion
