TOPLINE

Buried in Senate Republicans new coronavirus package is hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for Pentagon projects that President Trump gutted to build his border wall, the Washington Post reported Tuesday, part of a string of unrelated expenditures included by GOP lawmakers in their relief bill.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 24: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing executive orders on ... [+] prescription drug prices in the South Court Auditorium at the White House on July 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump signed a series of four executive orders aimed at lowering prices that for prescription drugs in the United States. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, the Trump administration diverted $3.8 billion earmarked for military construction projects and counternarcotics funding on the border wall, several times what Congress allocated for the administration to spend.

The move ignited a back-and-forth with Congress, with lawmakers on both sides objecting while the Trump administration argued it had the power to reprogram money without congressional approval.

Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), along with other Senate Republicans, spearheaded the effort to restore the funding, packing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding into the GOP stimulus bill for Navy planes and ships and Air Force aircraft that were zeroed out earlier this year.

Lawmakers of both parties have criticized proposals to include funding for unrelated projects in the upcoming relief bill, including a pitch to include $1.75 billion for a new FBI headquarters that was pushed by the White House.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)toldCNN that hes not particularly supportive of the funding for the FBI building and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)saidthere are a hundred problems with the plan, when asked about the FBI building.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) broke with the Trump administration on Tuesday, telling reporters hes entirely opposed to the idea of including funding for a FBI building.

The GOP proposal includes $260 million for a Navy Expeditionary Fast Transport ship, funding that the Trump administration had sought to almost zero out this year. The ship is built by Austal USA, a company thats located in Shelbys home state of Alabama, as the Post first reported.

$1 billion. The amount of money earmarked for the Navys P-8A Poseidon aircraft program in the GOP stimulus plan. The Trump administration had taken $180 million from the program earlier this year.

The bill also includes $720 million for the Air Forces C-130J Aircraft program and $686 million for F-35 aircrafts. The Trump administration had stripped $365 million and $156 million away from each program, respectively.

It protects all of the downstream supplier base and those are the place that are hurting the worst, a Shelby aide speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post, defending the decision to include military funding in a relief bill.

Republicans included over $1 billion for NASA in the stimulus bill, including $818 million for space exploration.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lashed out at Republicans for the military spending included in their relief package in a message on Twitter Monday:

GOP coronavirus bill replaces money for Pentagon projects Trump raided for border wall (Washington Post)

Trump Administration Diverts $3.8 Billion In Pentagon Funding To Border Wall (NPR)

Proposal To Use Covid-19 Funds For New FBI Building Draws Bipartisan Rebukes (Forbes)

See the article here:

Second Stimulus Bill: Pentagon Programs Gutted By Trump For Border Wall Would Have Funding Restored By GOP - Forbes