Sen. Rand Paul renewed his skepticism Tuesday of a U.S.-Mexico border wall, asserting that the Trump administration has not justified the $46 billion for construction included in the pending House budget reconciliation package.
The Kentucky Republican, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, made the comments at the tail end of an oversight hearing intended to evaluate President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget request on homeland security and immigration.
“So I know that the wall has a great symbolic value, but I think we should reassess … what we want to do and how much it costs,” Paul said.
Paul also openly considered whether construction of the border wall would even be necessary given that the Trump administration is claiming success over a 95 percent reduction of illegal encounters at the border, which the president’s allies have credited to his handling of immigration.
“So I’m not against or calling for no money, but I do think that the $46 billion is not justified unless we see something else from the administration,” Paul said.
Paul was unsatisfied with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s answers to his questions about costs, at one point asserting the numbers she provided were “way off.”
“I’m someone who’s not impressed and would have to see more detail as to where the rest of the money is going,” Paul said. “We can’t just throw $30 billion out there and say things cost a lot.”
Paul has expressed skepticism of the value of a border wall throughout his Senate career.
Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the committee, echoed the substance of Paul’s comments on the wall, saying he concurred Congress must “have accurate numbers” to look at funding for construction.
Peters also urged Noem to consider secondary costs of the wall in making estimates and cast doubt on whether the barrier would be effective.
“I was at the wall and been with security folks. They tell me that a lot of cartels have designed very sophisticated technologies to get over the wall. They’re called ladders, and they’re called ropes,” Peters said. “So a wall doesn’t really do the job if there’s not a lot of other background technologies there.”
Paul concluded the hearing by lamenting “people who often are conservative and talk about fiscal conservatism” change their tune when it comes to the border wall, and then it’s all “out the window.”
Paul, in lieu of a wall, envisioned a plan that would secure the U.S.-Mexico border by using helicopters as a deterrent, which he said would be more cost-effective.
“Now, if I were in charge of the border, though, and I wanted immediate control, and I wasn’t quite there yet, I would put 100 helipads down, concrete, about 50 yards by 50 yards, and I’d put 100 helicopters on the border, every 10 miles, and I’d simply use technology to control the border, and I’d pick anybody and everybody out who crosses the border illegally with helicopters,” Paul said. “And I think you could do that, and you probably do it for 500 million versus 46 billion.”
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