The Trump Administration is always talking about reducing government spending, but they completely ignore the option of cutting the $1 trillion military budget. The “big beautiful bill” that passed in July puts millions of people and the planet in danger so that billions can be invested into the military budget! Billions of dollars are being diverted from crucial human and environmental protection services and placed directly into the pockets of private companies and the top 5% wealthiest individuals. To top it all off, now Trump is sending troops and large quantities of ICE agents to descend on our cities!
Hardworking people in this country pay a significant amount into the government, yet they get nothing in return. The Pentagon budget already consumes a trillion dollars that could be spent on improving systems of education, employment, housing, and healthcare. Systems that are vital to combating the rampant social, economic, and racial inequities across the United States have now been stripped of their resources. Millions of hard-working Americans are set to lose access to essential resources, including Medicaid, SNAP, and other life-saving benefits. Sign the petition to the Trump Administration and Congress to cut the Pentagon budget!
Dear President Trump and members of Congress,
The current NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), or Pentagon budget, allocates $1 trillion worth of our tax dollars to war and militarism. The “Big Beautiful Bill” secured billions of dollars more for the military and ICE, raising the top line past the trillion-dollar mark. Now, US troops aren’t just being deployed abroad; National Guard as well as massive swaths of armed ICE agents are descending on people within our borders. If the Trump administration were genuinely interested in saving taxpayer money, removing the National Guard and ICE from the streets of Portland, Chicago, Washington, DC, and other U.S. cities would be a great start.
The Pentagon has estimated that the DC deployment will cost taxpayers over $200 million, excluding the costs of troops deployed in from eight other states. The total cost of deployment in the end could cost taxpayers nearly $750 million or more. The Pentagon is the poster child of government inefficiency; it has not passed an audit even once. That’s trillions of dollars unaccounted for, stolen from American taxpayers who deserve transparency and accountability.
If you want to demonstrate that you care about the people in this country, you should cut the Pentagon budget, remove the National Guard from the streets, end the ICE raids, and invest in life-saving programs for our neighbors, friends, and family. Here’s what’s at stake:
550,000+ unhoused people in the U.S.
1 in 10 adults in “significant” medical debt
$195 billion in medical debt held by individuals
16.9% child poverty rate
63% of people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck
Your constituents live paycheck to paycheck and are saddled with more and more debt, as the "Big Beautiful Bill" eliminates income-driven repayment plans and introduces student loan borrowing caps. How do you justify giving $1 trillion to the Pentagon when the people you claim to serve have been robbed of billions in social services? Can you justify giving $1 trillion to a department that has never passed an audit?
As of 2016, nearly a quarter of every tax dollar paid went to military and Pentagon spending. Military contractors pay, on average, less than half the federal corporate tax rate. These companies also receive funds from the government through grants, subsidies, and loans. Between one-quarter and one-third of federal indebtedness is due to war spending. While occupying a substantial portion of the United States' annual budget, military spending contributes to the country's dire economic situation.
If we allocate the money to life-affirming programs such as education, healthcare, and housing, not only will the standard of living in the U.S. increase, but we could also create many more meaningful jobs. For the same amount of money spent on clean energy and healthcare, 50% more jobs would be created, and education investments would result in twice as many jobs.
We demand a cut to Pentagon spending, an end to military deployment and violent ICE raids in our cities, and an investment in the people’s needs instead of the war machine!
Sincerely,