After the expiration of a deadline to appeal a court ruling, the Biden administration must continue building a border wall using roughly $1.4 billion Congress allocated for a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border that the administration had tried to redirect, the Texas Attorney Generalโ€™s office said Thursday.

Congress allocated the money during former President Donald Trumpโ€™s term.

Six months after Biden took office in 2021, Texasย sued to stopย the reallocation of the money by arguing that the move violated federal laws surrounding appropriations.

In May, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee,ย agreed with Texasย and issued a final injunction after previouslyย granting the state a temporary injunction. The 60-day window for the federal government to appeal that order passed on Monday, according to Attorney Generalย Ken Paxtonโ€™sย office, which said the federal government has to resume spending the money for its intended use.

Tipton laid out the terms of his order during a March hearing. A transcript of the hearing was not available on Thursday. Paxtonโ€™s office, which issued a news release about the suit on Thursday, did not respond to a request for a copy of the transcript.

The U.S. Justice Department through a spokesperson declined to comment.

โ€œThis is a final victory against Bidenโ€™s attempt to defund the border wall,โ€ Paxton said in a statement about the passing of the deadline. โ€œI sued and won to stop their unlawful scheme. Now, the administration has thrown in the towel by declining to appeal their defeat and will be legally required to build the wall.โ€

Biden issued anย executive orderย on his Inauguration Day to stop construction of the wall that Trump had made his signature project and redirect the money allotted to the project.

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/01/texas-border-wall-money-biden-paxton-lawsuit/#:~:text=Biden%20later%20acknowledged,can%E2%80%99t%20stop%20that.%E2%80%9D

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