House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy introduced legislation on Friday to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection $23.4 billion to build a border wall with Mexico. The amount, McCarthy says, brings total funds for the project to the $25 billion that President Trump has requested.
But Congress would trickle the money to CBP over a period of seven years, and each year's allocation would be available for five years after the appropriation. The bill's funds, then, span 12 years, reflecting the uncertainty of how long construction may take.
Time is a major constraint restricting Trump's ambitions for fulfilling one of his central campaign pledges. For now, fully funding the wall is unrealistic because of the Senate and campaign season; McCarthy's legislation amounts to a messaging document for now. But Republicans are also just weeks from possibly watching Democrats take control of the House, essentially removing the more partisan to-do items from Trump's legislative agenda.
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