Trump to waive federal contracting laws to speed construction of border wall

The Trump administration is waiving certain procurement regulations to help speed up construction on the border wall. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Tuesday that 177 miles of wall — a distance that includes stretches of the border in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas — will be able to be built faster because of the waivers. The waivers affect 10 statutes, including requirements for open competition and justifying selections, The Associated Press reported. “Working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security is exercising its Congressionally-granted authority to waive procurement regulations in six high-traffic border sectors, which will allow us to use already vetted and experienced contractors to build an additional 177 miles of new border wall system,” DHS spokesperson Heather Swift said. Swift added that Border Patrol had seized 54,000 pounds of narcotics and apprehended 36,000 at the border in January...MORE