A Trillion Dollars for Wasteful Pentagon and No Money for Social Goods We Need and Want

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 programs, the Department of Education, green energy, and so much more.

The U.S. already spends more on the military than the next nine countries combined despite the Pentagon being the only federal agency that has never passed a federal audit. The United States government alone operates more than 90% of the world’s foreign military bases, controls more than 42% of the world’s nuclear warheads, and dominates 43% of the global arms trade.

As the world’s largest arms dealer, the U.S. sells weapons to the majority of the world’s authoritarian governments and U.S.-made weapons are routinely implicated in human rights abuses - including facilitating Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza, ethnic cleansing of the occupied West Bank, and fueling the brutal proxy war in Sudan.

Half of the trillion-dollar Pentagon budget will be handed over to corporations and lobbyists who profit from producing weapons that drive political repression, endless war, and climate collapse - including billionaires like Elon Musk. The budget also includes funding and authorization for domestic use of the military to facilitate mass deportations and detentions at an unprecedented scale.

While Pentagon contractors are set to receive record-high public subsidies, too many Americans are struggling to meet their basic needs. Despite being the richest country in the world, the U.S. has the lowest education and health outcomes and highest rate of child poverty among all economically advanced nations. Wealth inequality has never been higher - and three-quarters of the country are pessimistic about their children’s financial future.

There are no militarized solutions to the challenges facing American families and communities. More war and weapons makes us all less safe, not more. Instead of a record-high budget for war profiteers, what could federal spending do for families and communities?

A $1.01 trillion dollar investment could achieve ALL of the following:

• Hire 350,328 registered nurses to fill the national nursing shortage (cost: $44.5 billion); AND
• Insure and treat the one in five adults with opioid use disorder who have no health insurance (cost: $1.85 billion); AND
• Provide health insurance for all four million uninsured children in this country (cost: $11.5 billion); AND
• Provide affordable housing for all 3.9 million Americans who receive an eviction notice each year (cost: $37.5 billion) and all 653,000 Americans who experienced homelessness at last count - a record high (cost: $6.3 billion); AND
• Expand Head Start services to cover all 3 million children under the age of five who live in poverty (cost: $28 billion); AND
• Lift 1.5 million children out of poverty by making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable (cost: $30 billion); AND
• Hire 407,000 Elementary School Teachers to fill the national teacher shortage (cost: $39.5 billion); AND
• Provide four-year scholarships to all 3.9 million 2025 high school graduates (cost: $152 billion); AND
• Replace lead pipes nationwide for safer drinking water (cost: $47 billion); AND
• Build nationwide high-speed rail for faster, cleaner, and safer transportation (cost: $205 billion); AND
• Erase all medical debt, which currently burdens 20 million Americans, nearly 1 in 12 adults nationally (cost: $220 billion); AND
• Create 350,000 clean energy jobs (cost: $60.30 billion); AND
• Send all 127.4 million households in the U.S. a $1,000 check to help offset the current cost-of-living crisis (cost: $127.4 billion).

Solutions to the greatest challenges facing American families and communities are not only possible - they’re popular. A trillion dollar investment in ordinary Americans is not radical; it would effectively help prevent crime, improve security, and raise standards of living across the country. And it’s what most people actually want.

Poll after poll show Americans would rather have their tax dollars spent on public services than on Pentagon contractors, and would prefer policymakers prioritize spending on healthcare, education, housing, and infrastructure—not the military. Pentagon spending consistently ranks below other major programs in terms of importance regarding federal investment. In addition, the majority of Americans disapprove of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” cuts to federal agencies and programs, believing they make the country more vulnerable. And most voters do not agree with the ham-fisted approach Trump is taking on immigration.

There is still time to fight back. The President’s trillion-dollar Pentagon request so far is just that: a request. Congress ultimately has the final say in deciding how federal money is allocated. There is bipartisan support for cutting waste, fraud, and abuse within the inflated military budget and a variety of proposals from across the political spectrum outlining how this can be achieved (see here, here, and here). As the FY 2026 budget process proceeds, it will be crucial to unite and strengthen interconnected movements fighting for government accountability and a livable future for people and the planet - not corporations who profit from the division and destruction of our communities and world.