Rep. Greg Stanton has joined the chorus of condemnations against President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to secure funding for the border wall, arguing it jeopardizes one of the Phoenix metro area's key economic engines — Luke Air Force Base.
Stanton, D-Ariz., said on Sunday that Trump's border emergency plan puts at risk $40 million in construction projects, including a new aircraft maintenance facility.
“It is reckless and irresponsible to steal money from our military to fund a border wall that isn’t necessary,” Stanton, a freshman congressman who took office last month, said in a written statement. “Luke is one of Arizona’s crown jewels — essential to our national defense and our regional economy — and we must do everything we can to keep it strong.”
Luke houses 85 F-35s Lightning II, receiving its first joint strike fighter in 2014 and with an expected final tally of 144. The base trains roughly 70 percent of the world's F-35 pilots.
The base also garners noise complaints from nearby residents as jets roar over their rooftops.
Stanton's release also attacked the comments Trump made during a Friday news conference where he said impacted projects "didn't sound too important to me."
The White House didn't immediately respond to The Arizona Republic's request for comment.
Trump attacked the F-35 program's estimated $400 billion budget shortly after being elected in 2016, saying the programs were "out of control" during a Fox News interview.
He later met with defense contractor CEOs to discuss lowering costs.
Lockheed Martin agreed to bring the cost for each jet below $100 million in February 2017.
The late Sen. John McCain, the veteran Arizona Republican who headed the influential Senate Armed Services Committee, also often raised concerns about cost overruns associated with the F-35 program.
Trump has since lauded the F-35, going as far as saying the jet is literally invisible. The F-35's website boasts the jet is extremely difficult to detect, but rebuke's Trump's invisibility claim.
"Stealth is not invisibility," the website says.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, has announced that he supports Trump's border emergency while the state's Capitol Hill delegation has largely split along party lines.