Senator Calls On Pentagon To Halt Sale Of Border Wall, Says Gov Recouping Just .02% Of Taxpayer Cost

Republican senator Eric Schmitt is demanding that the Biden administration’s Pentagon cease the sale of the border wall materials being offloaded, saying the outgoing administration is “sabotaging” the effort to secure the border while recouping just .02% of the taxpayer money used to buy the material initially.

In a letter obtained exclusively by The Daily Wire, which reported on Thursday that Biden was racing to sell off border wall parts in his final weeks in office, Schmitt calls on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to “immediately cease” the auctions.

“I am writing to demand that you immediately cease the auctioning off of border wall materials,” Schmitt opens in his letter to Austin. “Senate Republicans, including the incoming Chairman, as well as my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services have raised the absurdity of selling border wall materials through letters, nomination hearings, and through the National Defense Authorization Act legislative process.”

Schmitt’s analysis of the already completed sales this month found that the administration is offloading the wall materials for far less than the market value of the material alone.

“A representative sale on December 11, 2024 concluded with four sections of border wall, accounting for almost 16,000 pounds worth of steel, selling for $105. If purely sold for scrap metal at the average cost of $694 per metric ton, the value of this lot is worth $5,219,” he pointed out, going on to accuse the current administration of sabotaging Trump.

CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

According to his math, the government is recouping just 0.02% of the taxpayer money used to initially secure the material during Trump’s first term.

“While recouping less than 0.02% of taxpayer money used to secure these materials, the Biden Administration is sabotaging the incoming Trump Administration just weeks ahead of President Trump’s inauguration,” the Senator added. “These border wall materials will cost tens of thousands of U.S. taxpayer dollars to replace and will be critical to stem the record flow of millions of illegal immigrants who were welcomed across our border during the Biden Administration.”

EXCLUSIVE: Weeks before Trump takes office, Biden is racing to auction off unused border wall materials.

Video shows trucks hauling wall materials off the border to a government auction site, where a massive amount of wall is waiting to be sold. pic.twitter.com/ogaQMBHw7R

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) December 12, 2024

A border patrol agent told investigative reporter James Lalino that the goal was to offload all the material at his segment of the border in Arizona by Christmas.

“They are taking it from three stations: Nogales, Tucson, and Three Points. The goal is to move all of it off the border before Christmas.” The agent also estimated that as much as “half a mile worth of unused border wall is being moved every day.”

The Daily Wire investigation has also prompted a response from Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who said he is prepared to buy the wall. “Message their White House right now: I will bid on all of that wall and we will buy it in Texas and we will give it to Donald Trump,” Patrick said. “I’ve got a billion dollars in my pocket to do it.”

READ MORE: Biden Races To Sell Off Border Wall Parts Before Trump Takes Office

Further sales are set to take place later this month, with bidding starting at just $5 for an entire segment of the wall, according to the auction website.

Screenshot of GovPlanet.com, a government surplus auction site

The Biden-Harris administration’s decision to sell off parts of the border wall comes after it presided over a record-breaking surge in illegal immigration, all while ending policies like Remain in Mexico and Title 42, both of which were intended to stem the flow of mass illegal immigration.

One report from Republican members of the House Committee on Homeland Security indicates that, as of October 2024, there have been nearly 11 million illegal alien encounters nationwide between fiscal years 2021 and 2024 under the Biden-Harris administration.

The surge in illegal immigration is so drastic that it propelled the foreign-born population living in the United States to a new all-time high of 51.6 million people. One estimate indicates that 58 percent of the surge in the foreign-born population was due to illegal immigration.

“For the sake of our safety, sovereignty, and economic well-being, I, once again, urge the Department of Defense to halt the sale of border wall material immediately,” Schmitt said at the conclusion of his letter.

Trump has signaled that one of his first actions as president next year will be to resume construction of the wall, which was halted during the Biden administration.