Carbondale Reporter

U.S. Representative Mike Bost has alleged that President Joe Biden is selling border wall materials and has demanded answers regarding the matter. Bost made this statement in a Facebook post dated December 17.

"Biden is selling off unused border wall materials just weeks before President Trump takes office," said Bost, according to Facebook. "This is a blatant waste of taxpayer dollars and a deliberate effort to sabotage the next administration's plans to secure the border. The American people are fed up with Biden's open-border agenda; and I joined House conservatives today in demanding answers."

In his post, Bost included images of a letter addressed to President Biden, signed by him and other members of the Congressional Border Security Caucus. "Since you took office, these border materials have sat idle just feet from the border wall. Every Border Patrol agent knows that the areas with the highest number of illegal crossings are where construction was immediately halted in January 2021," legislators wrote.

Screenshot of U.S. Rep. Mike Bost's Dec. 17 Facebook post | U.S. Rep. Mike Bost's Facebook page

The letter points out that the sale of border materials was mandated under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2024, with 60 percent of these materials already distributed to federal and state agencies.

The legislators posed four questions in their letter, requesting responses by December 31. These questions were directed at understanding whether the Department of Defense (DOD) considered future administrations' potential use of these materials and if officials in the Department of Homeland Security took into account their successors' needs when determining material requests from the DOD. They also asked about potential costs to reacquire such materials for future border construction and whether there was any consideration to complete construction using inherited materials.

According to AZ Central, a report indicates that the NDAA requires the DOD to develop a plan for utilizing or donating all "covered" materials purchased for border barrier construction between fiscal years 2017 and 2022. Some materials were auctioned after others were provided to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and eligible border states.

Bost has been serving as the representative for Illinois’ 12th District since January 6, 2015. He previously spent two decades in the Illinois State House of Representatives as House Republican Caucus Chair. A lifelong resident of Murphysboro and former U.S. Marine Corps member from 1979-1982, Bost worked at Bost Trucking Service before joining the Murphysboro Fire Department after graduating from the University of Illinois’ Certified Firefighter II Academy in 1993.