Official airs border operation concern
Pentagon chief: Troops needed for usual roles
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Congress on Wednesday that the military needs to return to its traditional missions, and he wants to know how much longer troops will be needed at the U.s.-mexico border.
In testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee, Shanahan said he needs to determine how many more agents and other workers the Department of Homeland Security must have to fulfill the border mission.
“We’ve really been on this kind of a la carte approach where we’ve been asked to support DHS,” he said, when asked how the deployment is affecting military readiness. “We’re now in a position where we need to ask the question, how long will we be there?”
He said active-duty troops “really need to get back to our primary missions.”
Shanahan’s comments come days after the Pentagon said it would send 320 more active-duty troops to the border for tasks that put them in closer contact with migrants. Those duties include driving buses, serving food and providing medical and legal support.
Members of Congress raised concerns about the border mission, saying that it is costing a lot of money and there is no end in sight.
Rep. Pete Visclosky, the subcommittee chairman, objected to the use of Defense Department money to pay for “the construction of an unauthorized wall” on the border.
“We are here to appropriate funds needed for the military, not to make good on a campaign promise,” Visclosky, D-ind., told Shanahan.
The Pentagon submitted a budget request that included more than $7 billion in emergency money to help pay for President Donald Trump’s promised border wall.
The department also has proposed shifting about $1 billion in surplus personnel funds to a drug-fighting account to pay for the wall. The House Armed Services Committee sent a letter denying that request, but the committee lacks the legal authority to block the transfer.