Why were border wall materials put up for auction?

(The Texas Tribune) – 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.Related Stories 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...