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Biden Must Reduce Pentagon Bloat in Next Budget

Following the news reports that President Biden’s preliminary fiscal 2022 budget will increase Pentagon spending above FY21 levels, Public Citizen president, Robert Weissman, released the following statement:  

“It is disappointing to see the Biden administration increase Pentagon spending even one dollar above the excessive, wasteful and dangerous level inherited from the Trump administration. With so many pressing demands facing our nation, the last thing America needs is an increase in Pentagon spending – any increase in Pentagon spending. As the administration works to finalize its budget proposal and Congress moves to adopt a budget resolution, it is important that the bloated Pentagon spending be reduced from current levels.

“The Pentagon budget – which jumped more than $130 billion during the Trump presidency — is replete with spending on overpriced weapons that don’t work, rip-off deals for private contractors, gigantic investments in pointless or outdated weapons systems, and waste and mismanagement so severe the agency cannot pass an audit. It is, indeed, a tribute to the power of the military-industrial complex.

“There are hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved by appropriate cuts to the Pentagon budget. What is most important for the FY22 budget is that it be smaller than FY21, in order to signal that we are finally moving in the right direction and shifting resources from the Pentagon to investments in people.”