In a media interview on February 9, 2025, the Defense Secretary Hegseth gave a small preview of priorities that will be included in the FY26 defense budget request and future years. Modernizing the nuclear triad, building an “iron dome” (missile defense system) for the US and homeland priorities were mentioned. He also committed DOD to passing a clean audit, something the Department, excluding the US Marine Corps, has never done.
Three days later, in a February 12 media availability, Hegseth was asked if China was the biggest threat to the United States. He responded, “Well, right now, the biggest threat was securing our own border, which we are addressing rapidly.”
UNFUNDED DIRECTIVES
President Trump’s January 20 Executive Order “Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting the Territorial Integrity of the United States” directs that the Armed Forces “prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Untied States along our national borders.” It also tasks the Defense Secretary to revise the Unified Command Plan by assigning the mission to seal the borders, requiring planning to provide steady-state southern border security. The President also declared “a national emergency at the southern border of the United States”, and issued an executive order “Securing Our Borders” on the same day, which directs the Defense and Homeland Secretaries “to deploy and construct temporary and permanent physical barriers to ensure operational control of the southern border of the United States.” Personnel deployments are also directed to “ensure complete operational control”.
None of these directives to a Department of Defense operating under a continuing resolution (CR) were issued with a detailed implementation plan or cost estimates.
On January 22, DOD announced 1,500 active-duty, 1,000 soldiers and 500 Marines, as well as approximately 100 personnel to support additional air and intelligence assets, would be sent to the southwest border to add to 2,500 service members already in the region. Early planning numbers estimate a possible 10,000 additional troops could be sent to the border.
Adding to these unfunded requirements, a January 29 issued memorandum entitled “Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity” directs the Defense and Homeland Security Secretaries to expand the Migrant Operations Center (MOC) to full capacity “to provide additional space for high-priority criminals aliens” and “immigration enforcement needs.” The migrant operations center is separate from the detention centers used to hold detainees captured after 9/11. While the MOC is within the walls of Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, the 30,000-bed facility falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security.
The first public discussion about the execution of these executive orders and memorandums issued by the new administration affecting the areas of responsibility for Northern Command and Southern Command occurred in February 13, Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing. Democrats on the Committee focused questions on the southern border deployments and the use of Guantanamo Bay. SASC Chairman Wicker (R-MS) reference the new directives affecting southern border operations, but he spent more time on China’s presence in SOUTHCOM and the US missile defense system. Ranking Member Reed (D-RI) expressed concerns about the cost and legality of using Guantanamo Naval Station for detaining migrants not at the MOC but at the detention center. He also noted the expenditure of millions spent on transport aircraft, deployments and “thousands of hours of military personnel time for these operations”. He did address China, missile defense and the impacts of cancelled USAID programs.
The commanders’ responses to questions about the costs of these operations were simply that cost estimates are in initial stages, referrals to US Transportation Command for cost information as TRANSCOM provides the transport flights sourced through the Air Force, and iterating funding was expended by Homeland Security for detainees. No funding has been appropriated to NORTHCOM for the border mission – the Office of the Secretary of Defense or the military services expend funds as their Title X responsibilities.
RUN FOR THE BORDER, AGAIN
In the first Trump administration, in February 2019, an emergency was declared at the Southern border. Presidential memorandums were issued, to include one called Securing the Southern Border of the United States in April 2018. This prior border operation had cost estimates of $1 billion, in unreimbursed costs according to the GAO report published in February 2021, Southwest Border Security: Actions Are needed to Address the Cost and Readiness Implications of Continued DOD Support to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This $1billion estimate was for Army and Air National Guard personnel as well as active-duty military from 2018 to 2020. Guantanamo Bay Naval Station was not part of this estimate.
In a FY18 May reprogramming, the department requested an increase of $120 million for the Army National Guard Personnel account. The increased funding to the account was for fourth quarter pay to the full-time Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) Personnel who took care of daily operations. Their pay had been “depleted” due to the National Guard mission on the southern border. Justification for the replenishment of funds was to support planned activities, probably weekend training assemblies (aka drills), and to protect readiness. The same pattern of reprogramming was submitted to the defense congressional committees in July, 2019. It was again used to backfill the AGR pay due to funds used for the border mission, using Army active-duty pay accounts. The original requested total was $182.9 million but was adjusted to $172.1 million due to lower-than-expected approved sources within the reprogramming. In the same reprogramming request, $3.4 million was sought for Army National Guard operational costs for the southern border mission but was deferred by both senate defense committees. The second Trump Administration’s orders and directives for the southern border are the same as the first in scope and unfunded, creating once more the need to find funding from other programs to pay for the operation.
CURRENT SITUATION
Currently the US government is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR), expending funding at previous year’s levels. As the March 14 CR deadline approaches, the absence of a funding topline agreement increases the likelihood for another CR.
The Trump administration’s unfunded southern border mission and increase in Guantanamo Naval Station operations create operational and funding challenges that may not be resolved until after a reconciliation bill with increased funding for DOD and Border Security is enacted. Until then, the DOD comptroller will identify sources, mainly in military personnel and Operations and Maintenance, for cash flow, as well as below and above the reprogramming threshold. Existing funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as legacy acquisition programs with cost, schedule, or performance problems may be reprogrammed to pay salaries, travel and operational needs to complete both missions. These hard choices may appear in the annual ominibus reprogramming which is due to Congress on June 30th of each year. The call for reprogramming requirements is sent to the military services in the April-May time frame.
Funding an Iron Dome for America, increasing lethality and prioritizing readiness require shifts in funding set in the current CR and anticipated FY25 Appropriation but probably won’t be fully felt until the FY26 budget. The current defense appropriations, both the CR and the FY25 Defense Appropriations Bills, do not fund border security to the levels needed to execute the latest orders and directives. Prior administrations transferred detainees and moved toward reducing the costs to maintain Guantanamo detention centers. There is no funding dedicated to the expansion of operations in Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in the FY25 Defense Appropriations Bills.
During his confirmation hearings, Defense Secretary Hegseth emphasized the importance of improved readiness and lethality. Unanticipated operational deployments affect dwell time in between deployments for troops, may require involuntary call-ups from the Reserve Component, challenge the ability to respond to natural disasters, and create missed opportunities for individual and collective training, which is the most crucial factor in maintaining force readiness.