Congress Should Not Provide Hegseth’s Pentagon Any Additional Resources
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate is expected to pass the National Defense Authorization Act today. Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“Giving an extra penny to the dangerous and lawless Pete Hegseth – let alone $8 billion more than the Trump administration itself requested – is a terrible idea.
“As Hegseth illegally executes people near Venezuela and threatens to drive the nation into an illegal, unconstitutional and costly war, Congress should not be providing the Hegseth Pentagon with any additional resources.
“As Hegseth wastefully and recklessly deploys the National Guard in cities around the country, Congress should not be providing the Hegseth Pentagon with any additional resources.
“As Hegseth adds to the Pentagon’s long list of boondoggles, waste, and fraud with such dangerous, ultra-wasteful line items as the President’s ‘Golden Dome’ grift and unchecked killer robot programs, Congress should not be providing the Hegseth Pentagon with any additional resources.
“It’s time for Congress to get its priorities straight and stop piling more money on a 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.
“It’s long past time for Congress to use its power of the purse to hold accountable a bloated Pentagon and now a Secretary of Defense who is ordering unconscionable overseas killings, protracted domestic deployments of the National Guard, and countless other security and human rights breaches.”