Congress Preps Hegseth’s Trillion-Dollar War Chest
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lawmakers on Sunday released the compromise defense policy bill for FY 26, which would authorize a more than $900 billion Pentagon budget. If passed, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would bring total U.S. military spending to well over a trillion dollars annually, thanks to the GOP-led Big Ugly Law passed in July, which included $150 billion in additional Pentagon funds. Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“The last person who should be entrusted with an even bigger budget is the dangerous and lawless Pete Hegseth.
“As Hegseth illegally targets civilian boats near Venezuela with expensive Hellfire missiles, wastefully and recklessly deploys the National Guard in cities around the country, and teases an unconstitutional and costly war, Congress should refuse to add a penny to his budget.
“The $8 billion bump proposed for the Pentagon budget is, thankfully, less than the $32 billion proposed by the Senate. But it’s still an unconscionable increase to a budget already overflowing with dangerous, ultra-wasteful line items like the President’s ‘Golden Dome’ grift and unchecked killer robot programs.
“It’s time for Congress to get its priorities straight and stop piling more money on the trillion-dollar Pentagon budget beset with fraud and waste, at the expense of priority human needs. The $8 billion in additional funds for the Pentagon are nearly enough to pay for SNAP benefits for the four million people who will lose them under the tax and budget reconciliation bill.
“Congress should unequivocally reject the bill and use this moment to voice its strong opposition to Hegseth’s reckless overseas killings, protracted domestic deployments of the National Guard, and countless other security and human rights breaches.”