This Election Day, progressive ideas swept the polls this month on Election Day. Across multiple elections at the state and local government levels, voters chose pro-people and planet agendas over militarism, fossil fuels, and billionaire corporate interests. 

In the midst of the shutdown, Senators were still busy. They approved a $32 billion increase for the Pentagon on a bipartisan basis, approving the increase by a vote of 77-20 as part of a larger bill, the National Defense Authorization Act.

President Trump is requesting a record-high $1.01 trillion “defense” budget for FY 2026 while gutting federal agencies and social services that actually keep the country safe – things like clean air and water protection, Medicaid, child nutrition, the Department of Education, green energy, and so much more.   The U.S. already...

If policymakers wanted to actually improve the health of Americans they would be making larger investments in expanding food security and healthcare programs– not the military.

While climate change fuels migration, the United States hardens its southern border instead of investing in real sources of safety for people in this country and around the world. 

Make no mistake: The Trump administration’s heartlessness and militarism are costing lives.

The Pentagon misused much of $1 billion in congressionally appropriated COVID-19 relief funding, funneling it mostly to military contractors and using the money to make things like jet engine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms. What could that have paid for instead?

Wildly profitable military contractors have been unapologetically shaking down lawmakers for pandemic cash.

Humanitarian aid is the form of foreign spending that we need to prioritize for a safer future, instead of ever-flowing military aid. But the US is weaponizing it.

It is tragically impossible to revert time to save a hundred thousand people from death, yet it is still possible for all of us to support and help kickstart the transformation of the U.S. federal budget to a just and equitable one.