Citing White House, Inhofe Staff Says Military Construction Won't See Cuts

As Congress continues to roil over a recent military letter outlining possible billions in cuts to military construction projects, Oklahoma Senator and Chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee Jim Inhofe (R) is assuring those projects will be safe from cuts or delays, citing assurances from the White House. 

The letter, sent Monday, outlined $12.9 billion worth of building, repair or upgrade projects on military bases and installations around the world which could be slated for delay or cancellation to fund President Donald Trump’s border wall. Mr. Trump is requesting $8.6 billion to be reallocated for the barrier’s construction, marking roughly $3.5 billion from military construction funds.

Read Related Story: Several Oklahoma Project Could Be Delayed, Cut To Fund Border Wall

A spokesperson for the Senator said Friday, Inhofe has received assurances from the White House that military construction “will not be touched.” It’s a more detailed statement than he gave to the Associated Press in early March in which he only cited “private assurances.”

The White House has said it will attempt to backfill any funding cuts or delays in 2020.

On Thursday, Inhofe assured a group of reporters those military projects would be not be affected, despite the Presidential request made through a controversial emergency declaration.

“I can assure you it is not going to have a delay or reduction in military construction or any other military project," Inhofe said.

Inhofe’s office did not comment further on who in the White House gave their private commitment, but Inhofe recently detailed he and Mr. Trump have a close relationship, going so far as to consider the President is a friend.

The two talk frequently, beginning their relationship in 2016 when the senior plains state Senator was invited to Trump Tower to talk national defense with Mr. Trump, then still a candidate for president. Since then, Inhofe has remained a close confidant on military matters and is a voice the President listens to on matters of national security, including how to fill the vacancy for official Sec. of Defense. The position is currently filled by Patrick M. Shanahan in an acting secretary capacity.

While Inhofe has remained one of Mr. Trump’s most ardent and vocal supporters, the two have been at odds several times in recent months. The most recent over proposed funding cuts to national security operations in the latest defense budget. At the time, Inhofe declared he would vote against the President’s request to slash defense spending, even holding a hearing with national security experts.

Just over a month later, Mr. Trump reversed his policy decision and said he instead, wanted to boost spending for the military.

Even with his private assurances, Inhofe has been lobbying members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to reach a defense budget agreement before the deadline on Oct. 1 to allocate $125 billion for a one-year extension. His spokesperson said his work within the committee was “to make doubly sure” funding for military construction projects would remain untouched.

According to the DOD letter, any project not awarded to a contractor by Sept. 30 will be eligible for delay or cancellation. Projects already awarded or dealing with military housing will not be impacted.

In the House, Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OKC) who also sits on the House Armed Services Committee and several national security sub-committees, said the likely exemptions did not ease her concerns over the potential of cuts to fund the border wall.

“I see firsthand the needs of our military and they’re great,” Horn said in an interview on Wednesday.  “Readiness and taking care of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, everybody that’s serving in uniform and those people who support them is critical and the projects that have been targeted for cuts directly impact that readiness.”

In all,  $251 million in Oklahoma military construction projects were on the list of potential cuts. In all nine projects are outlined, including $180 million on Tinker Air Force Base. All but three appear to fall within the exemption criteria if their projected award dates are accurate.