President Trump has proposed spending $18 billion over the next decade to construct a new and improved border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. While some lawmakers have criticized the both the cost and the plan, a new analysis reveals the expenditure is relatively small compared to other federal spending.
“That $18 billion would equal just 0.0338 percent of the $53.128 trillion the Congressional Budget Office currently estimates the federal government will spend over that same 10-year period,” wrote Terence P. Jeffrey, editor-in-chief of CNSNews.com.
It also equals only 2.7 percent of the money the federal government will spend on the food stamp program, Mr. Jeffrey wrote. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will eat up $679 billion in the 10 fiscal years from 2018 through 2027, according to budget office’s estimate.
He figured that this is 37.7 times as much as the $18 billion which would go to Mr.Trump’s proposed border wall.
The cost of the wall is also 0.34 percent of the $5.232 trillion which the federal government will spend on Medicaid over the next 10 years, and 0.26 percent of the $6.838 trillion allotted to national defense in the next decade.
“Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin criticized the administration’s proposal to spend $18 billion over the next decade building a border wall, suggesting it could lead to a government shutdown this month,” Mr. Jeffrey wrote.
“There would be a government shutdown over the wall if Senate Democrats, who are in the minority, blocked the new bill needed to fund the federal government when the law currently funding the federal government expires on January 19,” he said.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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