The Pentagon calculated that should President-elect Joe Biden cancel the construction of lame duck president Donald Trump’s border wall on his first day in office, the United States would save $2.6 billion, the Washington Post reports. Biden pledged that he would halt construction of the wall.
Biden transition team members met with US Army Corps of Engineers commanders and discussed the status of the construction project. Neither party would release the topics reviewed during the meeting.
According to records reviewed by the Post, the US government would be on the hook for $700 million in existing costs and cancelation fees if the project were canceled January 20th. Since Trump took office, the project has constructed only 15 miles of new wall, as of the end of October. About 350 miles of existing fencing was upgraded or replaced.