The federal government has removed materials that were previously listed for auction to construct a wall along the southern U.S. border from the auction site, according to a report by the Washington Examiner on Friday.

On Wednesday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick shared a post on X, revealing that Texas had been informed of the materials scheduled for auction in Arizona on December 12, the same day that the Daily Wire first reported on the sale. The following day, Patrick explained that Texas attempted to locate the auctioned materials on the GovPlanet site but found they were no longer listed.

Originally, the materials were up for auction on GovPlanet, with bids starting at $5 for the December 18 auction. However, the items have since been removed from the website.

Patrick explained in his post, “Texas sent a representative to Arizona, and the auctioneers told him they pulled the wall panels from being auctioned off today at the direction of the U.S. Government.” He continued, “They also told us that if these thousands of panels go up for auction, Texas will be notified first. Governor [Greg] Abbott and I stand ready to buy them if they do.”

Patrick also declared that this was another win for President-elect Donald Trump, “and he’s not even in office yet.”

On Thursday, Trump submitted an amicus brief supporting an injunction to prevent the Biden administration from proceeding with the sale of the materials, as well as calling for an investigation into the legality of the auction. Earlier this week, Trump remarked that the sale was “almost a criminal act” given that it was happening shortly before he was set to return to the White House, according to the Examiner.

The fate of the unused materials was determined in 2023 when Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for the 2024 fiscal year, which concluded on September 30. As part of the legislation, Republican lawmakers included a provision that required federal officials to propose a plan for handling surplus border wall materials, as reported by the Texas Tribune.

In March, the Department of Defense submitted its plan, which included transferring the materials to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and to states, with a priority given to projects along the southwestern border. The plan also stipulated that any materials provided to states be used to maintain existing border barriers. Over 60% of the materials were distributed to CBP, Texas, and California through a “reutilization, transfer, and donation process,” as reported by the Tribune, citing the Department of Homeland Security.

During President Trump’s first term, approximately 452 miles of border wall were constructed along the 1,951-mile southern border with Mexico, according to the Examiner. However, only 80 miles of that represented new barriers, while the rest replaced or upgraded existing structures that were built by prior administrations.

{Matzav.com}