In Lesotho (and I assume other developing countries that teach the English standard) they use those phrases because the 24-hour day and 60-minute hours are a foreign concept to many kids and their families.

Ree

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/30/joe-biden-forced-build-donald-trumps-border-wall/

Found this. Basically the claim here is that funds were allocated to this project, and although some of those funds were redirected, congress never deallocated the rest, and therefore they have to continue to be used. I’m not totally convinced but it’s a more nuanced take than the comments here.