Budget Matters Blog

Category: Military & Security


Militarized Funding in Biden Budget Totals Well Over $1 Trillion (and it will grow)

While the larger budgets makes some important strides forward, this discretionary proposal won’t provide security we need, in terms of costs of living, quality of life, climate change, or securing peace.


What We Spend on the EPA Compared to Pentagon Contractors

Each year Congress gives more than 50% of its discretionary budget to the Pentagon. and one of the most wasteful uses of this money is on contract spending. 


Hunger Striking for a Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza

From left to right: DE State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, Bita iuliano (activist, grassroots organizer), Ashik Siddique, Sumaya Awad (author/activist, Adalah Justice Project), Rana Abdelhamid (organizer and former congressional candidate), Cynthia Nixon (actor/director), NY State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh (Founder, Muslim Girl). Photo Credit: Eman Mohammed.  Last week, I...


Pentagon Fails Its Sixth Audit

There is an entity whose job it is to prevent this sort of abuse: Congress. With each failure at the Pentagon, Congress is failing, too.


On Veterans Day, Let’s Care for Veterans and Our Communities

Even though they often come up short, the U.S. has a good thing in its veterans’ programs. Veterans deserve this level of care and dignity - in fact, we all do. 


On July Fourth, Let’s Celebrate by Reimagining Immigration Policy

It’s not too late for President Biden to set a precedent of treating migrants with care, dignity, and respect, and request that Congress cut spending on deportations and detentions.


Parity, Schmarity: The Budget Deal Gives 56% of the Discretionary Budget to the Military

The budget deal struck by the White House and House Republicans begins what could be a long-term shift in federal spending from domestic programs toward the Pentagon. 


The U.S. Still Spends More on Its Military Than Over 144 Nations Combined

Over-investment in the military is a major cause of the crises we face today. But it’s possible to reinvest in real solutions and begin to repair the harm caused by many decades of war.


Climate and Militarism Converges at Power Shift 2023

Power Shift 2023 makes space for the coming together of ideas and movements, including climate and militarism.


The Biden Budget Does Some Good on Poverty and Fairness. It Could Do More if it Cut the Pentagon.

The president’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year, released March 9, was heralded by human needs groups for preserving and in some cases expanding critical human needs programs to address poverty, hunger, health care, and protect children and seniors in particular. 

But as our chart shows, the Biden budget continues to fund the Pentagon and war at levels that far outpace all federal programs for housing, education, public health, and more.