AXIOS (Brittany Gibson) - The clock is ticking on Trump's border wall
The closer you look at Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's declaration that the border wall will be finished by this time next year, the harder it is to make the numbers work. Why it matters: DHS has only completed 10% of its planned primary wall . It will have to navigate construction lawsuits, negotiate with (or sue) private citizens for land access and finalize contracts and designs — all while minimizing the delays that slow big construction projects. - There are about 698 miles of primary border wall left to build, according to a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, along with public agency data that tracks wall construction from CBP and the Department of War. The big picture: The pace would need to increase to…