Why were border wall materials put up for auction? Here's what you should know.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick took to X on Wednesday, claiming President Joe Biden was attempting to auction off materials intended for construction of a border wall “for pennies on the dollar in secret.”

Some members of Congress made similar claims on social media and in interviews that the Biden administration was selling pieces of usable material to stifle wall-building efforts just a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump also weighed in, calling the auction an “almost a criminal act” during a press conference Monday.

"I'm asking today, Joe Biden, to please stop selling the wall," Trump said.

The sale, however, was ordered last year by Congress, and Texas had already received material from the federal government — and purchased more earlier this year.

Here’s what you should know about the controversy:

What’s being sold and why?

The Trump administration invested $15 billion in border wall construction, buying material with the intent of constructing hundreds of miles of barriers across the southwest border. Most of the construction replaced or updated already-existing barriers, and today 140 miles of barrier — mostly built before the Trump administration — lines the Texas-Mexico border.

Trump estimated in his press conference Monday that about 200 miles’ worth of material was still unused after he left office and Biden halted most wall construction (some wall construction continued under Biden).

The plan for the unused material was decided in 2023, when Congress passed the annual National Defense Authorization Act and Republican lawmakers added a section directing federal officials to submit a plan to Congress on how to dispose of excess border wall material.

The Department of Defense submitted its plan in March, allowing the transfer of material to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and states, with a preference for southwest border projects. Congress required that any materials received by states be used to maintain current border barriers.

CBP, Texas and California received more than 60% of the material through a “reutilization, transfer, and donation process,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Patrick said in a Fox News interview Thursday that Texas also bought $12 million worth of material during a summer auction, enough to build about four miles of border wall.

How did wall materials end up being auctioned?

The remaining 40% was sold in June to government and military surplus company GovPlanet, which moved the materials to Arizona in December and listed them for auction on its website — some of it with starting bids of $5. GovPlanet had previously auctioned off other border wall material in late 2023.

Federal officials requested that GovPlanet remove them from auction after a Daily Wire article documented the materials being transferred to Arizona and called the move “an apparent effort to hinder President-elect Donald Trump’s effort to secure the border.” That prompted lawmakers like U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to call the move “sabotage” in social media posts referencing the article.

In the Fox News interview, Patrick framed the auction as a last-ditch attempt by Biden to hinder future wall construction by discarding usable materials, calling it a “Great Biden Christmas border wall heist.”

How are Texas officials trying to block the auction?

Trump said Monday that he spoke with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton about blocking the auctions. A day later, Paxton filed a motion alongside Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in a preexisting case, claiming the sale to GovPlanet violates a permanent injunction that a federal judge approved in May.

That injunction prevents the Biden administration from redirecting money intended for wall construction for other purposes — but it doesn’t mention wall materials. Paxton and Buckingham’s motion argues that because the materials were purchased with the restricted funds, selling them to GovPlanet violates the injunction.

“If border wall materials … were sold to third parties, it is as if DHS took the congressional appropriation and gave the funds to a third party — contrary to this Court’s command that those funds be used solely for the ‘construction of physical barriers,’” the motion states.

The motion also requests that the federal government provide the manufacture date and original funding source for each of the wall materials sold to GovPlanet.

Will Texas buy more of the wall material?

In a Dec. 13 post, Patrick said the materials on the auction block were not worth salvaging.

“The Texas Facilities Commission told us today that the material for sale was mostly junk, with most panels covered in concrete and rust,” Patrick posted. “There were a few panels that might be usable but not worth the cost of shipping to Texas from Arizona.”

But on Wednesday, Patrick claimed that the auction lot contained usable wall panels that were “not clearly seen before.”

Patrick said Texas would be willing to buy any usable wall panels if they become available.

He said GovPlanet assured Texas officials that the state would be the first notified when wall materials are put up for auction again.

Patrick also said that if the state purchased more wall materials, it would donate them to the federal government after Trump takes office on Jan. 20.