Thornberry considers supporting bill to block DOD's wall transfer

House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Mac Thornberry (R-TX) said he is in discussions with Democrats about potentially supporting a bill that would direct the Trump administration to return $3.8 billion in Pentagon procurement spending it has redirected to build a wall on the southern border.

Thornberry, who spoke today at the Brookings Institution, said he supports the wall, but opposes the reprogramming on constitutional grounds.

"What I do not support is any administration that would take a bill that has been signed into law and as they choose just move money around for whatever purpose," he said. "I am interested and concerned about leaving this unilateral rearrangement of funds and programs unanswered. It kind of scares me to death what President Bernie Sanders is going to do with some authority like that if we don't stand up and say no you can't do that."

Thornberry said he is "talking" to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA), who last week said he is drafting a bill to block the reprogramming.

"They robbed the bank and they are now running away with the money," Smith said. "We need to stop them before they get too far."

It is unclear what kind of support the bill would have among Thornberry's fellow Republicans or in the Senate, where the GOP is closely aligned with Trump.

Thornberry, who noted he is retiring at the end of the year, said it has been his experience that Congress often pulls the Pentagon and the White House in the right direction, even if they are resistant at first.

"The answer we got last week was, 'Oh, it's excess to need,'" he said. "Well, it's not their choice. . . . The Constitution says that's our choice."