HOUSTON — On Monday, Dec. 16, President-elect Donald Trump called on the Biden Administration to stop the selling of border wall materials since the President-elect has ordered an additional 200 miles of the wall. From Mar-a-Lago Monday, Trump said he's possibly tapping Texas officials to take action saying, "I spoke with the attorney general of Texas. I spoke to the senators of Texas. I spoke to a lot of people and,...hopefully, they'll be able to stop. We're gonna be,...having a restraining order."
Viewer Mike reached out to KHOU 11 VERIFY asking about the auctioning of the border wall materials.
An official from the U.S. Department of Defense confirms to KHOU 11 VERIFY, that materials from the border wall are being auctioned off via website GOVPLANET.com. The materials posted to the website no longer belong to the U.S. Government and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) says they have, "no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."
THE QUESTION
Is Texas considering purchasing raw border wall materials being auctioned by the Biden administration?
THE SOURCES
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)
Office Of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)
THE ANSWER
Yes, Texas is considering purchasing raw border wall materials being auctioned by the Biden administration.
WHAT WE FOUND
Plans to sell materials from the border wall are spelled out in a plan submitted by to Congress on March 14, 2024. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in Section 2890 requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a detailed plan "..to use, transfer, or donate certain construction materials in the possession of the federal government to states on the U.S.-Mexico border for uses including refurbishing and maintaining ports of entry and stopping illicit human and vehicle traffic along the border."
According to a defense official in a statement sent to the KHOU 11 Verify Team, "Since enactment of the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in December 2023, the Department of Defense has been in the process of disposing of excess border wall construction materials in accordance with Section 2890 of that statute. Through our reutilization, transfer, and donation process, nearly 60% of those materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California. The remaining 40% was sold to GOVPLANET under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024."
Texas is on the receiving end of some of the "wall" materials. Section 2890 of the NDAA requires that border states that received any of the material sign a certification that it will be used exclusively for the refurbishment or maintenance of ports of entry along the southwest border or construction projects aimed at stopping illicit human and vehicle traffic along the border of the United States with Mexico.
According to Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, the Texas Facilities Commission was asked to evaluate what materials were being auctioned off for Texas to possibly purchase. In a tweet post to X, the Lt. Governor says, "...if they sell any panels that make economic sense, we will buy them and give them to President Trump when he takes office."