Page 19 - HOH

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 15 January 2020

Trump admin weighs shifting

billions more for border wall

This Dec. 12, 2018, file photo shows traffic on the Hollywood
Freeway in Los Angeles.
Associated Press
Trump administration

signals compromise In this Sept. 18, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump tours a section of the southern border wall
in Otay Mesa, Calif.
Associated Press
on gas mileage rules By COLLEEN LONG and AN- following the longest gov- that the administration is

DREW TAYLOR ernment shutdown in his- considering diverting bil-
By TOM KRISHER be a win for all Americans," Associated Press tory. lions more in Defense De-
AP Auto Writer the statement said. WASHINGTON (AP) — The But he issued a controver- partment funding to sup-
DETROIT (AP) — The Trump Last year, the administra- Trump administration is sial declaration of a na- port wall construction this
administration is signal- tion's proposed freeze weighing whether to shift tional emergency shortly year.
ing that it could increase touched off a huge le- billions more in military fund- afterward that allowed He declined to respond di-
fuel economy standards, gal fight with California, ing to build the border wall him to shift almost three rectly beyond saying the
possibly compromising on which has authority under after already moving more times as much money from Pentagon considers the
its push to freeze them at the Clean Air Act to set its than $6 billion, prompting a military construction ac- Southwest U.S. border to be
2020 levels. own greenhouse gas emis- fresh round of criticism from counts to wall building. The part of its mission to protect
In one of the administra- sions, and by extension, lawmakers. Supreme Court ruled this the homeland, and that
tion's hardest-fought bat- gas mileage standards. But senior administration summer the funds could be the Pentagon supports the
tles to roll back Obama-era Trump revoked California's officials cautioned that no used. In total, about $12 bil- DHS in that respect. Asked
environmental regulations, authority, and the state final decisions have been lion has been allocated for whether that meant sup-
two federal agencies sub- challenged the decision in made, and no official fig- the wall. And billions more porting DHS financially, he
mitted a final rule on gas court. ures have been decided. have been requested. said, "If that's what it takes,
mileage and greenhouse Later, the auto industry The officials were not au- Homeland Security offi- we prepared to support."
gas emissions on Tuesday. split on the matter with four thorized to publicly discuss cials, who manage border House Appropriations
But they would not give de- companies, Ford, BMW, internal deliberations and security, referred questions Committee Chairwoman
tails until the rule is reviewed Volkswagen and Honda, spoke on condition of ano- on the funding to the White Nita M. Lowey and other
and formally published by siding with California. Most nymity. House, which did not com- lawmakers said the admin-
the Office of Management other automakers went The border wall is one of ment. istration was planning to
and Budget. with Trump. Trump's signature issues — Acting Secretary of Home- "steal" $7.2 billion in coun-
Still, the National Highway When the Trump admin- he's been talking about land Security Chad Wolf ternarcotics and military
Traffic Safety Administra- istration released its pro- building a "big beautiful disputed the critics who construction funding to
tion says in a statement that posed "Safer Affordable wall" between the U.S. and say the new construction is pay for the wall.
it believes the rule, written Fuel-Efficient Vehicles Rule" Mexico since his early cam- only replacing old fencing. "Having failed to get his
jointly with the Environmen- in August of 2018, it was paign days. The new, 30-foot (9-meter) way in Congress, it ap-
tal Protection Agency, will panned by environmental Then, he was claiming he'd walls do replace other bar- pears President Trump is
improve gas mileage and groups who said the calcu- make Mexico pay for it. But riers, but those were shorter now once again forcing
reduce emissions from the lations were flawed. American taxpayers are and easier to cross. Wolf servicemembers and their
U.S. fleet of new vehicles. Even the EPA's Science paying instead — and wall said he's confident the ad- families to pay for his wall
The statement also said the Advisory Board, mainly ap- funding has been a major ministration will build or start by cancelling even more
rule would make new ve- pointed by Trump, ques- source of conflict between to build 400 to 450 miles vital military construction
hicles more affordable for tioned the rationale in a Democratic lawmakers (644 to 724 kilometers) by projects," Lowey, of New
Americans, thereby putting draft report late last year. and Trump as they negoti- the end of the year. York, and other Demo-
more new vehicles on the "There are significant weak- ate agency funding bills At a Pentagon news con- cratic lawmakers said in a
road that are safer than nesses in the scientific anal- each year. Last year Trump ference Tuesday, Defense statement. "He is choosing
the ones they replaced. ysis of the proposed rule," was forced to settle for just Secretary Mark Esper was politics over their readiness
"When finalized, this rule will the board wrote.q $1.4 billion in wall funding asked about the reports and quality of life."q