The House of Representatives approved a $68 billion increase in military spending for the 2018 fiscal year, $1.6 billion of which will be used to pay for President Donald Trump’s border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Reuters reports. On the campaign trail — and as recently as July 7 — Trump repeatedly promised that the Mexican government would pay for the “big, beautiful wall.” Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said in January that, “Mexico of course will not pay.” The Washington Post reports that the administration is still reviewing proposals by contractors.
Republicans slipped funding for the border wall into a national security appropriations bill at the last minute so that representatives who oppose the wall would be forced to vote “yes” or look weak on defense. The bill provides a total of $658.1 billion for defense spending for fiscal 2018, but it’s likely that Democrats will try to cut spending for the wall in the Senate.
