President Joe Biden’s nominee to become ambassador to Jordan says she supports American taxpayers funding border security measures in the Middle Eastern country even as the White House has abandoned building a border wall along the United States-Mexico border.
Yael Lempert testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, telling Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) that she fully supports Biden’s funding requests that pump millions more in taxpayer dollars to fund border security initiatives in Jordan.
“I do support that request,” Lempert said, also telling Hagerty that she “would have to defer to the Jordanians whether they think” building a border wall “would be useful.”
Specifically, Biden has requested some $110 million in taxpayer money to continue funding border security measures for Jordan. In December 2022, Congress passed Biden’s request for $410 million for “enhanced border security” efforts in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman.