The nation’s homeland security chief defended her agency’s $46.5 billion budget request to continue building a wall across the southern border amid questions from Republicans skeptical about the cost.
The hearing, held May 20 by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, was scheduled to discuss Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s budget request for the upcoming fiscal year.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) pointed out that during President Donald Trump’s first term, 458 miles of border wall were built for $6.6 billion, or about $14 million per mile.
Using that same math, Noem’s requested funding could build more than 3,000 miles of wall, he said. The border is about 1,900 miles long….