A day after President Trump introduced his fiscal budget proposal, with plans to pull $7.2 billion from the Pentagon's coffers to fund the border wall, the U.S. Army Secretary says he supports the mission.
Sec. Ryan McCarthy, a former Army Ranger and Lockheed Martin executive, told Cheddar in an interview on Tuesday that "the border wall is a national security issue." McCarthy said the increased presence of soldiers on the border, along with the newly constructed parts of the wall, have already led to a drop in illegal crossings.
While crossings have dropped substantially since last spring, some critics claim it has more to do with the White House all but cutting off asylum applications in the U.S. So far, according to the CBP's own figures, the vast majority of the wall that has been constructed under the Trump administration was replacement of existing structures.
The administration's budget ー a document that will be dead on arrival in Congress but signals the president's priorities if he were to be reelectedー includes cuts to the Army's top line, though it does substantially increase R&D spending at the Pentagon that will presumably be used to help restructure and modernize the armed forces.
"The Army is in the midst of a major transformation over the last three years," McCarthy said. One of the goals of that modernization is to improve recruitment with a plan to aggressively increase talent drives in 22 major cities. "It's been a challenge," McCarthy conceded, acknowledging that the tight labor market has made the Army's job harder in getting top candidates to sign up.
One of the ways to encourage job-seekers to consider military service, he said, is to highlight the "variety of career paths" available and the Army's generous tuition assistance perks.
"We have to be ready to meet national objectives every moment of every day," he said.
Former Texas Republican Congressman Will Hurd announced he is running for president.
The Supreme Court ruled that a man convicted to 27 years in prison on gun charges won't be able to challenge his conviction.
A Florida judge has struck down a ruling that banned Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare in the state.
A Moscow court on Thursday ruled that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich must remain in jail on espionage charges until at least late August, rejecting the American journalist’s appeal to be released.
The Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation on Thursday in a dispute involving water from the drought-stricken Colorado River.
A resolution to impeach President Joe Biden is likely to face a House vote this week as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy remains opposed to it right now.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a 2008 trip to a luxury fishing lodge in Alaska from two wealthy Republican donors, one of whom repeatedly had interests before the court, and he did not disclose the trips on his financial disclosure for that year, ProPublica reports.
President Joe Biden made his first public comments about his son Hunter Biden's plea deal with federal prosecutors on two misdemeanor tax charges. This follows several critical comments by Republicans, who blasted the agreement as a "sweetheart deal."
A federal judge struck down Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for children as unconstitutional Tuesday, the first ruling to overturn such a prohibition as a growing number of Republican-led states adopt similar restrictions.
Climate change is on trial in Montana. In a landmark case, 16 young people are suing the state over effects like smoke, heat, and drought. It's just the first in a series of cases intended to pressure lawmakers into taking action on the environment. Here with more is Cheddar News Senior Reporter Chloe Aiello.
