Defense chief tours border as Pentagon prepares wall funds

El Paso, Texas — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan toured the U.S. border with Mexico on Saturday as the Pentagon prepares to allocate billions of dollars toward the construction of President Donald Trump’s border wall.

The visit marks the most visible foray to date by Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who became acting Pentagon chief last month, into the president’s politically charged immigration agenda.

It takes place as Shanahan examines a proposal to shift as much as $3.6 billion in planned military construction funding toward fortifying the border, a step made possible by Trump’s declaration of a national emergency related to a perceived threat from undocumented immigrants. The declaration has prompted legislative challenges from Democrats while threatening to divide Republicans whose states could lose out on coveted military projects.

Like his predecessor Jim Mattis, the retired Marine general who abruptly resigned in December over differences with Trump, Shanahan, a relative newcomer to Washington politics, must tread a careful line between deferring to the president’s wishes and limiting the Pentagon’s involvement in a mission that critics say detracts from Pentagon priorities including counterterrorism and China.

Shanahan, who spent 18 months in the Pentagon’s lower-profile No. 2 role, must also demonstrate his deft handling of this fraught and intensely scrutinized issue at a moment when the president is considering nominating him to remain in the job.

In a visit to the El Paso area, Shanahan was briefed by Customs and Border Protection officials and military commanders overseeing National Guard forces deployed in the area.

At one nearby border point overlooking the New Mexico-Mexico line, CBP officials showcased tools they use to patrol against illegal crossings and drug trafficking, including horses, all-terrain vehicles, long-range cameras and what they described as “less lethal” weapons that fire pepper balls.