Trump's emergency declaration looms over Pentagon funding fight

Congress is barreling toward a fight over President Trump’s decision to redirect billions in Pentagon funding to construct his proposed border wall.

The looming showdown is throwing an early wrench into the fiscal year 2020 budget talks, as lawmakers face a Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a second government shutdown in the 116th Congress.

The brewing battle stems from Trump’s plan to take $2.5 billion out of a Defense Department counter-drug fund to beef up the $1.375 billion he got from lawmakers as part of last month’s government spending bill. He initially sought $5.7 billion.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) recently fired a warning shot, saying Democrats would try to strip the Defense Department of its ability to reprogram money if the Pentagon doesn’t get congressional buy-in.

“We will zero out their reprogramming authority for fiscal year 2020,” Smith told Bloomberg News.