How did appropriation levels for border wall maintenance in 2024–2025 compare to the previous five fiscal years?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Congress and the Biden and Trump administrations shifted how earlier border-wall appropriations were used, paused, or reprogrammed between FY2018–FY2025; as of January 8, 2024 DHS had obligations remaining from FY2018–FY2021 appropriations and was still obligating FY2021 funds that remain available through September 30, 2025 [1]. Starting in 2024–2025, Republican-led congressional moves and new bills sought large new dedicated funds (committee proposals of ~$46–69 billion and standalone bills to create new wall funds), while GAO and other oversight documents emphasize that much prior funding remained obligated to non-new-construction purposes and that some unobligated military construction funds had been reprogrammed earlier [2] [3] [1] [4].
1. The past five years: appropriations, pauses and carryover obligations
From FY2018 through FY2021 Congress appropriated barrier construction funds; administration changes then altered obligation patterns. GAO reports show DHS had nearly fully obligated FY2018 funds and a large share of FY2019–FY2021 funds but still carried unobligated balances into 2024, with DHS saying it would continue to obligate FY2021 construction funds until they expire on September 30, 2025 [1]. Oversight analyses and GAO decisions also record that presidential actions in Jan 2021 paused new obligations and that DOD military‑construction transfers and redirections occurred earlier in the period [4] [5].
2. What changed in 2024–2025: renewed drives for big new accounts
In 2024–2025, Republican congressional and executive initiatives pushed to re-open large streams of wall funding and to create new dedicated funds. Committee proposals and press releases cite figures such as $46 billion for new construction approved in committee and broader House proposals in the $46–69 billion range to fund walls and related hiring [2] [3]. Separate bills in 2025 sought to establish new Southern Border Wall Construction Funds or similar Treasury accounts to finance design, construction and maintenance [6] [7] [8].
3. Maintenance versus new construction: reporting gaps and contested uses
Oversight reporting and committee statements show dispute over how previously appropriated dollars were spent. GAO documentation and House GOP messaging point to obligations that were not exclusively for new wall construction — with GAO noting that the “bulk” or “vast majority” of FY2020 and FY2021 obligations were not allocated to new wall construction according to court filings cited by House Republicans [9] [1]. The House Budget Committee highlighted GAO findings to argue DHS spent border security funds on other priorities [9]. Available sources do not provide a single dollar-for-dollar table breaking out maintenance versus new-construction appropriations across each fiscal year for FY2019–FY2025; that granular ledger is not found in current reporting.
4. Legal and administrative maneuvers that affect comparability
Legal rulings, executive proclamations and OMB/DOD reprogramming decisions changed what "appropriations" meant in practice: the Biden proclamation paused obligations on Jan 20, 2021 and OMB/DOD decisions redirected some planned military construction funds to other DOD projects, which complicates year-to-year comparisons of maintenance appropriations [4] [5]. GAO’s work product emphasizes that some appropriations remain available for obligation across fiscal years, so FY2024–FY2025 activity can reflect earlier-year appropriations being spent [1].
5. Political narratives and competing claims
Republican sources and later Trump‑administration communications in 2025 frame the period as a recovery of paused funds and the initiation of new large contracts such as multi‑billion “Smart Wall” awards [10] [11]. Environmental and advocacy groups and Democratic critics frame new funding pushes as an unprecedented, environmentally harmful expansion — Earthjustice flagged a $46 billion push in 2025 and warned of environmental harms [2]. GAO and congressional research provide the most neutral accounting available in the record: obligations carried across years and disputed allocations, rather than a clean cut increase or decrease strictly in “maintenance” appropriations [1] [5].
6. Bottom line and limitations
Available sources show that by early 2024 DHS still had carryover appropriations from FY2018–FY2021 that it planned to obligate through Sept. 30, 2025, and that 2024–2025 political action sought large new funding streams for construction and maintenance [1] [2] [3]. However, a precise year‑by‑year numeric comparison isolating only “maintenance” appropriations for FY2019–FY2025 is not provided in the documents you've shared; available sources do not mention a complete, single-source breakdown that isolates maintenance appropriations across those fiscal years [1] [4]. For a definitive numeric comparison, obtain DHS/CBP appropriation tables or Congressional appropriations/committee reports that itemize “operation and maintenance” versus “construction” line items for FY2019–FY2025.