McSally says she’ll fight to keep Luke funding from being diverted to wall

PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona says she’ll fight to keep Luke Air Force Base funding from being diverted toward a border wall.

“I have fought for Luke Air Force Base,” McSally told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Mac & Gaydos on Thursday.

“I know firsthand the national treasure that it is, and I am going to fight to make sure that the resources they need for those projects for the F-35 are funded.”

She pushed back against Democrats’ claims that President Donald Trump would reroute funds from projects like these as part of his national emergency for border security.

“(President Donald Trump’s administration) had told us they are not going to be impacting projects that have to do with the lethality and the readiness of the force,” she said.

“We still have questions on what that means, and I do want to make sure that we fund our military, all of those projects for Arizona, and we secure our border. We shouldn’t have to choose between the two.”

McSally said she shares Trump’s “goals” and “frustrations.”

“The president has every right to declare a national emergency,” she said.

“A law was passed in the 1970s, it’s been used about 58 times since then, never challenged in the courts, so he does have broad authority by the laws that were passed by Congress.”

However, she said she would like to see those goals achieved through legislation.

“I prefer that it didn’t come to that. I prefer Congress do our job and stop playing political games with something that used to be bipartisan, which is border security,” she said.

“I really wish it didn’t come to this.”

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