A lawsuit filed by the State of Washington challenging the Trump administration’s reprogramming of $89 million in appropriation funding for Naval Base Kitsap will no longer be needed following President Biden’s Jan. 20 termination of a national emergency declared by President Trump.
As a result of Biden’s action, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson voluntarily agreed on Nov. 18 to dismiss his lawsuit.
“Our legal victory ensures that this $89 million appropriation will be used the way Congress intended — to support a military construction project in Washington state,” Ferguson said in a news release.
In February 2019, Trump declared a national emergency to reallocate funds for his promised border wall with Mexico. A bipartisan vote by Congress overturned his administration’s emergency declaration, but the president vetoed their legislative action.
The lawsuit was filed by Ferguson in September 2019 after the Trump administration identified a list of targeted projects that included nearly $89 million to build a pier maintenance facility at Naval Base Kitsap.
A bipartisan group of more than 100 former members of Congress filed a brief in support of the state’s challenge, along with 60 former national security and State Department officials who served presidents of both parties, according to Ferguson’s office.
Biden’s order declared that “no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall” upon the termination of the emergency order.
The proclamation ordered the federal government to halt all border wall construction projects, and only use the diverted funds to pay contract termination costs. The remaining $2.2 billion in funding impacted by Trump’s declaration was released to fund 66 deferred military projects.
Washington’s Bangor submarine base is home to the U.S. Pacific Fleet of Trident ballistic missile submarines. Trump’s declaration would have subverted the $88.96 million project to build a pier and maintenance facility at the base, including completion of a boat shop, small-craft fueling station and storage tank, and permanent berthing for two 250-foot blocking vessels.
