{"id":66660,"date":"2020-07-14T09:13:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-14T13:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/?post_type=news&p=66660"},"modified":"2020-07-14T09:13:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-14T13:13:52","slug":"its-time-to-cut-the-bloated-pentagon-budget-to-fund-people-not-military-contractors","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/news\/its-time-to-cut-the-bloated-pentagon-budget-to-fund-people-not-military-contractors\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time to Cut the Bloated Pentagon Budget to Fund People, Not Military Contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s happening:<\/strong>\u00a0As part of the annual must-pass military spending and policy bill (the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021), progressive lawmakers have put forward a proposal to cut the massive $740 billion Pentagon budget by 10%. The amendment is being introduced by U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the U.S. Senate and U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) in the U.S. House of Representatives.\u00a0Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has announced his endorsement<\/a> of the proposal.<\/p>\n

The Senate is expected to take up the amendment the week of July 20 and the House also is very likely to take up the measure.<\/p>\n

The significance of this moment:<\/strong>\u00a0For too long, on a bipartisan basis, Congress has allowed the Pentagon budget to rise dramatically without any meaningful pushback. It has been politically taboo to suggest any real reductions in the Pentagon\u2019s coffers, and even some progressives have been hesitant. But now, the tide is turning. At the insistence of progressive lawmakers and with broad support, every member of Congress will be forced to vote up or down on the question of whether they support specific, targeted reductions in the bloated Pentagon budget.<\/p>\n

This unprecedented opportunity comes at a time when calls to reallocate funding away from police to communities are growing louder and the coronavirus pandemic has revealed the ugly reality of our misplaced spending priorities. In May, twenty-nine members of Congress\u00a0wrote a letter<\/a>\u00a0urging cuts to the Pentagon budget in order to fund \u201ctesting, tracing, and treatment\u2026 and immediate relief for the American people.\u201d The moment demands bold action from Congress, with major long-term consequences. It is crucial that they seize this opportunity.<\/p>\n

Please call on Congress to support this amendment and rein in the bloated Pentagon budget.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Support for putting people over the Pentagon:<\/strong>\u00a0Polling<\/a>\u00a0shows that\u00a0most Americans\u00a0<\/a>support reallocating money from the Pentagon to address human needs, an\u00a0especially popular<\/a>\u00a0position among Democratic voters. Budget experts and advocates have put forward and gathered broad support for specific plans to cut\u00a0$100 billion<\/a>,<\/u>\u00a0$200 billion<\/a>\u00a0or even\u00a0$350 billion<\/a>\u00a0from the annual Pentagon budget while increasing public programming and investing in meeting Americans\u2019 daily needs. More than\u00a060 national groups from multiple sectors<\/a> recently signed on to a letter in support of the modest Sanders-Lee-Pocan proposal to cut 10% from the\u00a0Pentagon<\/a>\u00a0budget and reinvest those funds in urgent human needs.<\/p>\n

Why the Pentagon budget is so ripe for cutting:<\/strong>\u00a0The Sanders-Lee-Pocan proposal exempts military personnel and the Defense Health Program from the cuts, so service members will not receive lower pay or lose their health care if the amendment passes. What\u2019s on the table, then? Everything else. There\u2019s no shortage of reasons why cutting the Pentagon is essential and common sense. Among them:<\/p>\n