Congressional Republicans have begun looking into funding options for the Mexican border wall promised by President-elect Donald Trump, who hopes to fund the project through the appropriations process as early as April.
The proposal would pass the cost of the wall onto U.S. taxpayers, at least initially, backpedaling Trump's campaign promise that Mexico would foot the bill for its construction.
Trump defended the move Friday morning, writing on Twitter that Mexico would reimburse Americans for the cost of the "Great Wall" despite steadfast rejections from Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
"The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!" Trump wrote.
The president-elect first made the argument for reimbursement in October, telling supporters in Gettysburg, Pa. that the wall along the southern border would be built "with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall," the Washington Post reported.
The Trump transition team and Republican lawmakers are considering using a 2006 authority signed into law by then-President George W. Bush that allows for the construction of a "physical barrier" along the U.S. southern border that could cost billions of dollars.
The law would allow Congress to fund the wall through the regular appropriations process without passing new legislation.
"It was not done in the Obama administration, so by funding the authorization that's already happened a decade ago, we could start the process of meeting Mr. Trump's campaign pledge to secure the border," Rep. Luke Messer (R., Ind.) told CNN on Thursday.
Republicans could begin funding the wall as early as April 28, when federal spending authority expires.