Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) is cautioning that a national emergency declaration could threaten $252 million worth of funding already allocated for construction projects at the United States Military Academy at West Point, which he represents in Congress. A national emergency declaration would allow the president to raid funds from the military construction budget to pay for his proposed wall along the border with Mexico. The president noted in an interview last Friday that he may announce an emergency declaration during the State of the Union. Threatened projects at West Point include a state of the art engineering facility, the West Point Cemetery, a water treatment plant, and a parking structure.

“It doesn’t matter if you support building a wall or not – we can’t steal funding from the next generation of military leaders to do it,” said Maloney.