The defense budget continues its decades-long tradition of being a hugely important part of the national budget. upward spiralDemocrats in the House are pushing for something new: Take billions from defense budget and redirect it to social spending.
Representatives Barbara Lee (D–California), and Mark Pocan, (D–Wisconsin), will meet Monday. introduced a bill that would cut $100 billion from the defense budget — which, for this year, was a towering $782 billion. This would be likely beThe Pentagon’s largest ever year-over-year budget reduction.
The bill wouldDirect the Department of Defense budget to be calculated for fiscal year 2023 by subtracting $100 million from the amount for defense budget 2022. While this would still be a massive budget of around $680 billion, it would be a major first step toward progressives’ longtime goal of slashing the defense budget to an amount comparable to that of other countries — or nixing it altogether.
“For far too long, this country has put profits ahead of its people. Nowhere is that more apparent than in our Pentagon topline budget,” Lee said in a statement. “It is time that we realign our priorities to reflect the urgent needs of communities across this country that are healing from a pandemic, ongoing economic insecurity, and an international Energy crisis — none of which will be resolved through greater military spending.”
While Democrats are trying to reduce the defense budget, President Joe Biden requests more than Congress has allocated for the Pentagon in 2022. Biden has requested$813 billion to finance defense for fiscal year 2023. $770 billionFor the Pentagon. If Congress approves the budget, it would be the largest ever defense budget in the country’s history.
Biden’s 2022 request for the military was already sky-high when compared to his spending requests for other priorities; the request made up 50 percentHalf of the discretionary budget will be spent on the environment, education and housing. The remaining half will go to other priorities. Biden has requested $813 billion for 2023. HigherDonald Trump ever requested duringHis time in office.
“The Pentagon’s budget continues to grow year after year, even as our forever wars have finally wound down,” Pocan said in a statement. “The United States spends more on defense than the next nine countries combined and cutting it by $100 billion will still keep the United States safe at the top spot. The amount of money the defense industry convinces Congress to spend each year doesn’t protect us from real threats like climate change, pandemics, or cyber-attacks. It only lines contractors’ pockets.”
Lee and Pocan are who foundedThe Defense Spending Reduction Caucus has waged efforts before to reduce defense spending. The past two years in a rowBoth sent letters asking for cuts in the defense budget to prioritise public spending.
The bill has the support and backing of many progressive and human rights organizations, which includes Public Citizen, National Priorities Project, and Project on Government Oversight.
“The Pentagon budget is racing toward $1 trillion annually, while free school lunch programs for 10 million children are set to expire in a few weeks,” Public Citizen President Robert Weissman said in a statement. “We’re told there’s not money to feed the hungry, care for the sick, cut child poverty or protect the planet, even while Congress throws hundreds and hundreds of billions at a Pentagon that can’t even pass an audit.”
