GOP senator proposes bill to halt federal disposal of border wall materials after auction controversy.

Senator Bill Hagerty, a Republican from Tennessee, is proposing legislation that would prevent the use of federal funds to dismantle or render inoperable any part of the physical barrier on the US-Mexico border.

The ongoing controversy over the auctioning of border wall materials by the Biden administration has led to the bill.

The Biden administration halted border wall construction in January 2021, leaving 450 miles unfinished after it had begun under the previous administration.

In 2023, the Defense Department's logistics agency began selling excess border wall parts on GovPlanet.com, an online auction marketplace. The Army Corps of Engineers had turned over the material for disposition.

Weekly auctions of unused wall materials have been taking place in Arizona, according to officials. This practice came to light last week when The Daily Wire published a video showing flatbed trucks transporting the materials, despite their potential use by the next Trump administration.

President-elect Trump labeled the actions as "nearly a criminal offense" and urged President Biden to cease selling the wall.

The president-elect is collaborating with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state leaders to recover the materials.

"They're performing an act that's almost criminal, and they know we'll use it," he said. "If we don't have it, we'll have to rebuild it, which will cost twice as much as it did years ago, and that's hundreds of millions of dollars because it's a lot of wall."

The Pentagon has been disposing of excess wall construction in accordance with the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which mandated the defense secretary to submit a plan to use, transfer or donate all remaining wall material purchased with Pentagon funds. The plan was submitted in March.

The Defense Department has no legal authority to recall or stop the resale of materials that were given preference to border states, including Texas, by an official, as they no longer belong to the U.S. government.

"Nearly 60% of the materials were transferred to authorized recipients, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the states of Texas and California, while the remaining 40% was sold to GovPlanet under a competitive sales contract process beginning in June 2024. The material currently being sold through GovPlanet online auctions no longer belongs to the U.S. Government, and DOD has no legal authority to recall the material or stop further resale of material it no longer owns."

Hagerty's bill would replace any existing law, including the NDAA. His office claims that the NDAA provision aimed to motivate border wall construction.

Planet Chronicle' Jennifer Griffin and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.