By Connor Perrett
https://www.businessinsider.com/author/connor-perrett
The Department of Homeland Security said on Tuesday it would waive 10 federal laws to allow for speedier construction of portions of the border wall in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, according to a report from the Associated Press.
"Today, we're going to start waiving those for procurement-related regulations and laws as well, which allow us to speed up a lot of our contracts that the Army Corps has, anywhere from 30 to 45 to 60 days," acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said in a Tuesday morning appearance on "Fox & Friends."
"We hope that that will accelerate some of the construction that's going along the southwest border," Wolf added, according to the report.
There would be 10 laws waived to allow for faster construction of the border wall, including laws that exist to require open competition, the justification of selections, and receiving all bonding from a contractor before work can commend, the AP report said.
"Working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security is exercising its Congressionally-granted authority to waive procurement regulations in six high-traffic border sectors, which will allow us to use already vetted and experienced contractors to build an additional 177 miles of new border wall system," Heather Swift, a DHS spokesperson, told Business Insider.
The administration said 94 miles of the wall should be constructed with help from the waivers in 2020. The remaining 83 miles could be constructed this year, too, the administration said according to the report.
While the law has been used by secretaries under Trump some 16 times during his first term, the move Tuesday marks the first time that federal procurement rules have been waived to support the construction of new border wall, according to the report.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-waives-federal-to-quickly-build-177-miles-of-wall-2020-2