By Sharon Zhang, Truthout
While the defense budget continues its decades-long upward spiral, Democrats in the House are waging a push to do something unprecedented: take billions from the defense budget and redirect the money to social spending.
On Monday, Representatives Barbara Lee (D-California) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin) introduced a bill that would cut $100 billion from the defense budget — which, for this year, was a towering $782 billion. This would likely be the largest year-over-year budget cut that the Pentagon has ever seen.

The bill would direct the Department of Defense budget for fiscal year 2023 to be calculated by subtracting $100 billion from the amount appropriated for the defense budget for 2022. While this would still be a massive budget of around $680 billion, it would be a major first step toward progressives’ longtime goal of slashing the defense budget to an amount comparable to that of other countries — or nixing it altogether.
Recent Posts
There Are Easier Ways To Talk About War And Peace
September 27, 2023
Take Action Now We live in a very strange age in which spending money on death and destruction is understood as philanthropy… By David…
How America Hides The Human Toll Of Its Forever Wars, With Norman Solomon
September 27, 2023
Take Action Now A recent study from the Costs of War Project at Brown University found that the post-9/11 wars have been responsible for some 4.5…
Supreme Court Justices Have Financial Interest In Major Tax Case
September 27, 2023
Take Action Now John Roberts and Samuel Alito own shares of companies that could score billions in tax relief from the outcome of Moore v. United…
Depleted Uranium In Ukraine Will Only Ensure Long-Term Suffering
September 27, 2023
Take Action Now As a radioactive material, depleted uranium enters a human body through inhalation or as fragments puncturing the body. by Danaka…