CBP gave a Trump donor’s firm a no-bid border wall contract worth up to $1.6 billion

What happened

On April 24, 2026, Customs and Border Protection issued Barnard Construction Company of Bozeman, Montana, task order EPT-5, “Border Wall Construction for El Paso Sector.” USAspending records $1,585,324,926 obligated at signing. A September 30, 2026 modification added $185,523,060, bringing the total to about $1.77 billion. High Country News reported that the order covers 112.5 miles of “secondary wall.”

The record shows one offer received and “urgency (FAR 6.302-2)” as the reason competition was limited. The order sits under a CBP border infrastructure contract with a pool of pre-approved builders, but USAspending shows that only one offer was received and that cost or pricing data was waived. A CBP spokesperson told High Country News the award came “due to various factors particular to that project.” CBP said separately that it keeps documentation of its decisions but would not share it while a lawsuit by another builder was pending.

Who benefited

Barnard Construction, which received the largest of its new CBP awards on a single offer, with competition limited under the urgency exception. High Country News counted more than $5.6 billion in border construction awards to Barnard and its affiliates since January 2025, from its own analysis of federal spending data: $4.54 billion from CBP, more than $260 million from the Defense Department and $853 million to a joint venture with Spencer Construction.

Who wanted something

CBP wanted the El Paso sector wall built quickly, and said so through the urgency exception. No source reviewed says anyone in the White House chose Barnard. Federal Election Commission records show that on June 28, 2024, Tim Barnard and Mary Barnard each gave $500,000 to Trump 47 Committee, Inc., a joint fundraising committee, and that Tim Barnard gave $100,000 more on September 25, 2024. That is a fact about donations, not a stated reason for the award. Barnard did not respond to High Country News’s requests for comment.

Who lost out

Taxpayers are paying $1.77 billion on a single offer, with no competing price to compare it against. USAspending shows one offer received. “What was so urgent that they couldn’t bid it to other contractors that are already on the pre-approved list?” Scott Amey of the Project On Government Oversight told High Country News. One of those builders, Posillico Civil, sued on May 13, 2026, over the way CBP divided the program’s wall work between two firms; the suit was not specific to EPT-5.

Why it matters

EPT-5 was Barnard’s largest new CBP award, and High Country News identified it as at least one awarded without competitive bidding. It is also one piece of a program funded with $46.5 billion from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with more than $28 billion in wall contracts awarded to a small group of companies, according to CBP figures High Country News cited. The federal record shows the reason given for skipping competition; it does not show who decided it.

Sources USAspending.gov (primary)Federal Election Commission (primary)High Country News