Congress Must Reject Desperate Republican Effort to Fund Trump’s Iran War and Undemocratic SAVE Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On July 16th, the Republican leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee passed a budget resolution that would increase Pentagon funding by $60 billion and increase intelligence agencies’ funding by $13 billion.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement on the Budget Resolution and the threat it poses to free and fair elections:
“In a desperate attempt to appease President Trump, House Republicans are once again attempting to move an agenda that guts funding for the things regular Americans need and depend on while pouring tens of billions of dollars into Trump’s illegal and unpopular Iran war and funding for undermining the fast-approaching U.S. elections.
“The Republican House Budget Resolution would provide backdoor funding for a direct attack on free and fair elections in the United States by providing $10 billion in funding for the SAVE Act. This bill has proven impossible to move via regular order because it makes it much more difficult for millions of eligible voters to participate in elections. Congress must preserve the sanctity of our democracy by rejecting the House Budget Resolution and the profoundly flawed and undemocratic SAVE Act that it is attempting to force on the American people as a poison pill.”
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, issued the following statement on the Budget Resolution and Trump’s Iran War:
“Republicans are desperately trying to throw money at the waste-and-fraud-ridden Pentagon and to resuscitate funding for Trump’s illegal and unpopular war on Iran.
“The American people aren’t having it. Americans are saying with increasing intensity that they will no longer tolerate throwing more money at the Pentagon and war while vital funds for health care, education, climate action, housing, food assistance and more are repeatedly slashed.
“Just days ago, U.S. senators, responding to public outcry, voted to block consideration of a $250 billion increase in the Pentagon budget via Trump’s 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. So now Trump and Congressional Republicans aim to use the budget reconciliation process to force the American people to pay for increased funding for a Pentagon that doesn’t need a dollar more and for a war on Iran that never should have started and should end immediately. Congress must reject Trump’s attempt at a new reconciliation bill, and the Senate must refuse to take up Trump’s desperate attempt to repackage funding for his war on Iran.”