Congress redirects unspent pandemic relief to border wall construction
S. 42 — Build the Wall Act of 2025 · Filed by John Barrasso (R-WY) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 9, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a new Treasury account called the Southern Border Wall Construction Fund and immediately transfers all unspent money from the COVID-19 state and local relief program (established under the American Rescue Plan) into it. That money would then be used by the Department of Homeland Security to build and maintain physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a unilateral redirection of previously-appropriated pandemic-relief funds to a different federal purpose without new authorization or appropriation. It functions as a rider on the American Rescue Plan, not as a standalone appropriation.
- Transfers unobligated COVID-relief funds (ARP sections 602/603) to border wall construction, diverting resources from their original pandemic-recovery purpose without new congressional authorization or state/local consent.
What the text implies
- States and localities lose flexibility to deploy unspent pandemic funds for emerging needs (mental health, infrastructure, fiscal stabilization). The bill freezes those funds in place and redirects them federally.
- The bill does not appropriate new money for border wall construction—it cannibalizes existing relief funds. If unobligated amounts are small, the wall fund may be underfunded; if large, state/local recovery capacity is materially reduced.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
construction contractors (border wall construction); Department of Homeland Security (expanded budget authority)