John,

Every federal dollar that goes to wasteful Department of Defense contracts is money that does not go to human needs.

Back in March, the Department of Defense sent Congress their Unfunded Priorities List (UPL)―a wish list of programs and activities the department would engage in if they had more money. The FY2025 request is well over $25 billion―and that’s on top of the $895.2 billion that was already requested from President Biden.  

Since 2017, military branches have been required by law to produce such a wish list―a requirement that prior and current Defense Secretaries have opposed.¹ Human needs programs don’t get to make such requests, despite urgent needs for affordable housing, care for children and the aging, health coverage, and so much more.

Nearly one-third of the Pentagon budget goes to military contractors who price-gouge the federal government and spent $138 million on lobbying Congress in 2023 alone.²

The lack of financial oversight is so bad that since 1990 the DoD has been on the Government Accountability Office’s list of high-risk areas “needing urgent attention and fundamental transformation to ensure that they function in the most economical, efficient, and effective manners possible.”³ The Department of Defense is also the only federal agency that has never passed a complete financial audit.

The Pentagon budget should be subject to the same oversight and discipline as other agencies. But despite the high contractor profits and failures to pass audits, the law requiring wish lists results in even more spending. Getting rid of the Unfunded Priorities List is one responsible step Congress should take now―and the House Armed Services Committee may consider a proposal to do just that this coming Wednesday.

Send a message to Congress urging them to put people first and reject the Pentagon’s Unfunded Priorities List.

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ An End to Pentagon Wish Lists? - Forbes
² Defense Lobbying in 2023 - Open Secrets
³ DOD's High-Risk Areas: High-Level Commitment and Oversight Needed
for DOD Supply Chain Plan to Succeed

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” — President Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Chance for Peace”¹

At a time when many are living paycheck-to-paycheck, facing challenges of putting food on the table and managing housing costs, we need to invest money in communities, not giveaways to corporate military contractors. And, we’ve got a chance next week to start to rein in out-of-control spending by stopping the “wish list” from the Pentagon and military contractors so we can invest in our communities.

There is an important first step Congress should take to rein in Pentagon/military contractor spending―Congress should eliminate the Unfunded Priorities List. Next week, the House Armed Services Committee may consider a proposal to remove the requirement for these wish lists from the Department of Defense (DoD).

Send a message to Congress telling them to reject Pentagon spending increases―and start by getting rid of the law requiring military branches to send Congress “wish lists” beyond their own annual budget requests.

These wish lists are in the statutorily required “Unfunded Priorities List” from the Department of Defense (DoD). Signed into law in 2017, leaders of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Space Force, Missile Defense Agency, 11 combatant commands, and the National Nuclear Security Administration are legally required to outline programs and activities they would fund if they had additional money and resources beyond what their own administration has proposed in its annual budget.² Already, President Biden’s proposed FY2025 budget calls for a defense budget of $895 billion―which is in keeping with the debt ceiling limit deal he made with congressional Republicans.³

It’s now being reported that talks are going on in Congress about increasing Pentagon spending even more.⁴ This year the list is estimated at well over $25 billion; that’s on top of the FY25 Pentagon budget request of $895.2 billion.

We have thrown trillions of dollars at the Pentagon with DoD’s corporate, price-gouging contractors getting one-third of its budget for more than two decades.⁵ Their sky-high profits undermine our security by preventing us from investing enough in the shared prosperity that comes from more housing, climate and public health protections, ending hunger, more education, and jobs.

Curbing excessive Pentagon spending will not be easy, especially with military contractors spending over $138 million on lobbying just last year.⁶ But we can start with one practical step―ending the required wish list.

Congress needs to hear from you today: Tell them to oppose the Department of Defense’s Unfunded Priorities List and invest that money in vulnerable communities.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Address "The Chance for Peace" Delivered Before the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
² NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017
³ Pentagon slashes weapons programs to stay under debt deal
⁴ What spending caps? Senators open to boosting the Pentagon’s budget
⁵ 20 Years of War: A Costs of War Research Series
⁶ Defense Lobbying in 2023 - Open Secrets