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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took to X on Dec. 18, claiming President Joe Biden   
   was trying to auction off materials intended for construction of a border   
   wall “for pennies on the dollar in secret.”   
      
   Some members of Congress made similar claims on social media and in   
   interviews that the Biden administration was selling pieces of usable   
   material to stifle wall-building efforts just a month before President-   
   elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump also weighed in, calling the   
   auction an “almost a criminal act” during a news conference Dec. 16.   
      
   "I'm asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall," Trump   
   said.   
      
   The sale, however, was ordered last year by Congress, and Texas had   
   already received material from the federal government – and purchased more   
   earlier this year.   
      
   Here’s what you should know about the controversy:   
      
   What’s being sold and why?   
   Trump's first administration invested $15 billion in border wall   
   construction, buying material with the intent of constructing hundreds of   
   miles of barriers across the southwest border. Most of the construction   
   replaced or updated already-existing barriers, and today 140 miles of   
   barrier – mostly built before the Trump administration – lines the Texas-   
   Mexico border.   
      
   Trump estimated in his news conference that about 200 miles’ worth of   
   material was still unused after he left office and Biden haltedmost wall   
   construction (some wall construction continued under Biden).   
      
   The plan for the unused material was decided in 2023, when Congress passed   
   the annual National Defense Authorization Act and Republican lawmakers   
   added a section directing federal officials to submit a plan to Congress   
   on how to dispose of excess border wall material.   
      
   The Defense Department submitted its plan in March, allowing the transfer   
   of material to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and to states, with a   
   preference for southwestern border projects. Congress required that any   
   materials received by states be used to maintain current border barriers.   
      
   CBP, Texas and California received more than 60% of the material through a   
   “reutilization, transfer, and donation process,” according to the Homeland   
   Security Department.   
      
   Patrick said in a Fox News interview that Texas also bought $12 million   
   worth of material during a summer auction, enough to build about 4 miles   
   of border wall.   
      
   How did wall materials end up being auctioned?   
   The remaining 40% was sold in June to government and military surplus   
   company GovPlanet, which moved the materials to Arizona in December and   
   listed them for auction on its website – some of it with starting bids of   
   $5. GovPlanet had previously auctioned off other border wall material in   
   late 2023.   
      
   Federal officials requested that GovPlanet remove them from auction after   
   a Daily Wire article documented the materials being transferred to Arizona   
   and called the move “an apparent effort to hinder President-elect Donald   
   Trump’s effort to secure the border.” That prompted GOP lawmakers like   
   U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to   
   call the move “sabotage” in social media posts referencing the article.   
      
   In the Fox News interview, Patrick framed the auction as a last-ditch   
   attempt by Biden to hinder future wall construction by discarding usable   
   materials, calling it a “Great Biden Christmas border wall heist.”   
      
   How are Texas officials trying to block the auction?   
   Trump said that he spoke Dec. 16 with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton   
   about blocking the auctions. A day later, Paxton filed a motion alongside   
   Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in a preexisting case, claiming   
   the sale to GovPlanet violates a permanent injunction that a federal judge   
   approved in May.   
      
   That injunction prevents the Biden administration from redirecting money   
   intended for wall construction for other purposes – but it doesn’t mention   
   wall materials. Paxton and Buckingham’s motion argues that because the   
   materials were purchased with the restricted funds, selling them to   
   GovPlanet violates the injunction.   
      
   “If border wall materials … were sold to third parties, it is as if DHS   
   took the congressional appropriation and gave the funds to a third party –   
   contrary to this Court’s command that those funds be used solely for the   
   ‘construction of physical barriers,’” the motion states.   
      
   The motion also requests that the federal government provide the   
   manufacture date and original funding source for each of the wall   
   materials sold to GovPlanet.   
      
   Will Texas buy more of the wall material?   
   In a Dec. 13 post, Patrick said the materials on the auction block were   
   not worth salvaging.   
      
   “The Texas Facilities Commission told us today that the material for sale   
   was mostly junk, with most panels covered in concrete and rust,” Patrick   
   posted. “There were a few panels that might be usable but not worth the   
   cost of shipping to Texas from Arizona.”   
      
   But on Dec. 18, Patrick claimed that the auction lot contained usable wall   
   panels that were “not clearly seen before.”   
      
   Patrick said Texas would be willing to buy any usable wall panels if they   
   become available.   
      
   He said GovPlanet assured Texas officials that the state would be the   
   first notified when wall materials are put up for auction again.   
      
   Patrick also said that if the state purchased more wall materials, it   
   would donate them to the federal government after Trump takes office Jan.   
   20.   
      
   The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that   
   informs and engages with Texans about public policy, politics, government   
   and statewide issues.   
      
   https://www.statesman.com/story/news/state/2024/12/28/border-wall-   
   materials-auction-texas-federal-government/77230969007/   
      
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