John,

A federal budget is a moral document that expresses who and what we value and prioritize as a society. It shows how we care for our neighbors and communities.

Unfortunately, the majority of the funds Congress appropriates each year go to the Department of Defense (DoD), not to critical programs for human needs. Recently, the DoD failed its audit for the sixth time in a row when it failed to account for $1.9 trillion―half its $3.8 trillion in assets.¹

Why does Congress allow this to happen? The Department of Defense is the only federal agency that has never passed a full audit and they didn’t even complete audits until 2018.² Meanwhile, while many policymakers protect wasteful spending on defense contractors, reactionaries in Congress want to create a secretive fiscal commission to cut funding to Medicaid, SNAP, housing, and other critical programs people rely on to survive.

Send a direct message to Congress telling them to cut Defense Department waste in upcoming funding bills.

Last year, an explosive six month investigation by 60 Minutes revealed drastic price gouging by federal military contractors―with some raking up total profits near 40%!³

One of the biggest contractors and price gougers is Lockheed Martin. In 2021, 71% of Lockheed Martin’s $67 billion of net sales were from the U.S. Government―including 62% from the Department of Defense.⁴ And, for tax year 2023, they saw their effective tax rate cut by over half―to 14.5%―due to the passage of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax scam.⁵

Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, Defense spending has totaled $14 trillion with one-third of the money going to contractors―the same contractors who have spent $2.5 billion over the past 20 years lobbying members of Congress.⁶

The U.S. spends more on the military than any other country in the world, yet we repeatedly fail to spend the required amount of funds that meet the most basic needs of food, housing, health care, and education that our communities need.

Trillions of dollars spent―and unaccounted for―undermines our security by preventing us from investing in the shared prosperity that comes from more housing, climate and public health protections, ending hunger, improving access to care, and more education. And Defense spending has been shown to create fewer jobs than comparable amounts spent on sectors including education, health care, renewable energy, or infrastructure.

It’s time for Congress to cut the waste and invest that money to help low-income families and communities.

Take action today by calling on Congress to cut Defense spending waste in the upcoming government funding bills.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ The Pentagon just can’t pass an audit
² Here’s what the Pentagon’s first-ever audit found
³ Weapons contractors hitting Department of Defense with inflated prices for planes, submarines, missiles
⁴ HOW MUCH DO GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS CONTRIBUTE TO DEFENSE SUPPLIERS’ REVENUE SHARE?
⁵ Lockheed Martin Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results
⁶ Profits of War: Corporate Beneficiaries of the Post-9/11 Pentagon Spending Surge
⁷ The U.S. Still Spends More on Its Military Than Over 144 Nations Combined
⁸ U.S. Military Spending Dwarfs Rest of World