Lankford Disappointed in GAO Decision to Freeze Border Wall Funding

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator James Lankford (R-OK) issued the following statement in response to the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) review of President Biden’s executive action to withhold funding to complete construction of the fencing system at the US southern border: 

“If President Biden spent half as much time securing our border as he spends leaving it open, he would not have an illegal immigration crisis in America right now. When the President works to leave gates and fences unfinished, it sends a message to every human smuggler and drug trafficker that the border is open. Legal loopholes to not follow the congressional mandate do not justify ignoring the obvious commonsense actions Americans want. Secure the border, and stop facilitating illegal immigration.”

Today’s decision by GAO raises more questions than answers. While GAO found a technicality to clear President Biden, the fact still remains that President Biden has allowed a record high number of illegal border crossers to enter the country.

Lankford has been critical of how President Biden has handled policy at the US/Mexico Border. He sent a letter to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro to highlight President Biden’s suspension of border wall funding and construction without lawful justification. He has spoken out about the crisis in order to push the Administration to secure the southern border and address our national security. Lankford has also called out the Biden Administration for their continued failure to address the crisis at the southern border while secretly recruiting a “volunteer force” of federal employees from NASA, Department of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Department of Agriculture to work at the border transferring migrants with very few training requirements. 

Lankford took a trip to the Arizona border in March, during which he visited the unfinished border wall system on the southern border that was halted by the Biden Administration. Lankford also traveled to Texas with a delegation of Senators to tour the Rio Grande Valley area of the southern border as part of his ongoing work to provide necessary oversight of the crisis. 

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