GOP Appropriator Mike Simpson Questions Funding for Trump Arch as Pentagon Faces Budget Shortfall
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Sep 21
GOP Appropriator Mike Simpson Questions Funding for Trump Arch as Pentagon Faces Budget Shortfall
1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Sep 21
Summary
Mike Simpson, a senior House GOP appropriator, said Monday he would not use military funds for President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch and argued the idea should be debated in Congress.
Trump revived the funding question after saying over the weekend the arch, planned near the Pentagon across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial, could store and deploy drones and snipers.
Simpson said the Defense Department is already short on money and that other military needs should take priority, adding the administration should seek a specific congressional appropriation if it wants to use federal dollars.
The Idaho Republican also broke with Trump on press access, calling the weekend ban on three news outlets and any effort to bar reporters from the Speaker’s Lobby “wrong.”