In 2022, $1.1 Trillion — or 62% — 
of the Federal Discretionary Budget
Was Spent on Militarism and War 
Institute for Policy Studies and National Priorities Project

“When we invest so heavily in militarism at home and abroad, we deprive our own communities and people of solutions to problems that pose immediate security threats.”

(May 24, 2023) — On May 24, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies released a critical new analysis of the militarized budget in the United States, “The Warfare State: How Funding for Militarism Compromises our Welfare.”

The new report found that this past year, out of a $1.8 trillion federal discretionary budget, the US spent a staggering $1.1 trillion – or 62% – of that budget on militarism and war.

Threats to cut spending for vital domestic programs have featured prominently in the debt ceiling debate in recent weeks, but spending on militarism has been almost entirely exempt from the discussion. Meanwhile, clawing back failed military, homeland security and law enforcement spending could instead fund programs and measures to address the true needs of American communities.

Read the full analysis.

Key Findings: 
In FY 2023, out of a $1.8 trillion federal discretionary budget, $1.1 trillion – or 62% – was for militarized programs that use violence or the threat of violence or imprisonment, including war and weapons, law enforcement and mass incarceration, and detention and deportation.

• Less than $2 out of every $5 in federal discretionary spendingwas available to fund investment in people and communities, including primary and secondary public education, housing programs, child care programs, federal disaster relief, environmental programs, and scientific research.
• The US spent$16on the military and war for every $1 that was spent on diplomacy and humanitarian foreign aid. The vast majority of militarized spending was for weapons, war and the Pentagon, at $920 billion. Only $56 billion was spent for international affairs, diplomacy, and humanitarian foreign aid.
• The US federal budget allocatedtwice as much for federal law enforcement($31 billion) as for child care and early childhood education programs.
• Federal spending onnuclear weapons($32 billion) was four times spending on substance abuse and mental health programs ($7.5 billion), even as opioid use remains a major cause of death.
• The US spent$51.1 billionfor homeland security, approximately half of which goes to ICE ($8.8 billion) and CBP ($17.4 billion), two punitive border enforcement agencies that separate families and terrorize immigrant communities.

“When we invest so heavily in militarism at home and abroad, we deprive our own communities and people of solutions to problems that pose immediate security threats,” said co-author Lindsay Koshgarian, Program Director of the National Priorities Project.

“We underfund programs to end poverty, provide affordable housing, bolster public education, and protect clean air and water at our peril. Spending on militarism takes up the majority of the federal discretionary budget, and it has grown faster than all other spending. If we keep up these patterns, we are hurtling toward a future where we can’t afford the basics of a civilized society.

“We keep hearing that our government can’t afford nice things — or necessary things — for everyone. And yet militarized spending in the US has almost doubled over the past two decades, and the military budget is now approaching its highest point since World War II,” said co-author Ashik Siddique, Research Analyst at the National Priorities Project.

“All this serves the profits of a wealthy few war profiteers, at everyone else’s expense. Meanwhile, public goods that benefit all of us are under attack. For a fraction of the cost of US militarism since 2001, we could have instead ended homelessness in this country, or invested in a fully renewable national electric grid to help address the climate crisis. A better world is possible, if we build the power we need to make it happen.”

“Our leaders need to stop putting immigration on the back burner. Tens of billions of dollars is funneled into ICE and CBP every year in an effort to militarize the border, separate families, and detain and deport immigrants and people seeking asylum.

People’s lives and well-being are at stake here. Immigrant communities are a large makeup of the richness of culture, diversity and the economy of the US and we need to invest in care-based approaches to these communities, such as in rehabilitation and resettlement services and legal pathways to residence and citizenship, instead of turning them away,” said co-author Alliyah Lusuegro, Outreach Coordinator of the National Priorities Project.

Recommendations:

• Immediately reduce the budget for the Pentagon and nuclear weapons by $100 billion or more,and reinvest the savings in non-militarized discretionary priorities.
• Make any future Pentagon spending increases contingent on the Department of Defense passing an audit.
• Increase congressional oversight to make it harder for the US to go to war.
• Restructure the country’s immigration system to support robust legal immigration and current undocumented residents,and cut spending for structures that are built to deter immigration and deport immigrants, including Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• End federal support for racist and counterproductive carceral and policing practices, including the war on drugs.
  Read the full report.

The Warfare State: How Funding for
Militarism Compromises our Welfare
Lindsay Koshgarian, Alliyah Lusuegro and Ashik SIddique / Institute for Policy Studies

INTRODUCTION
Our country’s economy faces a dire threat from so-called “fiscal conservatives,” including the present GOP House majority, who have resorted to dangerous brinkmanship to force deep cuts in the federal discretionary budget.

The discretionary budget contains the Pentagon budget as well as a number of other broadly militarized line items, including nuclear weapons, federal immigration enforcement, law enforcement, prisons, and so on. That same budget also hosts most social programs outside of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP. It includes federal jobs programs, education, scientific research, and the like.

In this report, we find that the militarized portion of this budget is by far its largest single component. And yet the same legislators demanding billions in discretionary savings have vowed to exempt that militarized spending from any cuts. Instead, they’ve targeted the much smaller portion that funds human and community needs for even deeper cuts.

Below, we’ll show just how over-militarized our federal discretionary spending already is. We’ll argue that this militarized spending has done far more harm than good, while our consistent under-investment in human needs has made us much less safe. And we’ll make recommendations for getting our national priorities right in the future.

A summary of the report follows. A more detailed version can be found in the full PDF.

Key Findings
In FY 2023, out of a $1.8 trillion federal discretionary budget, $1.1 trillion — or 62 percent — was for militarized programs.

That includes war and weapons, law enforcement and mass incarceration, and detention and deportation.

Less than $2 out of every $5 in federal discretionary spending was available to fund investment in people and communities.

This investments include primary and secondary public education, housing programs, child care programs, federal disaster relief, environmental programs, and scientific research.

The US spent $16 on the military and war for every $1 that was spent on diplomacy and humanitarian foreign aid.

• The vast majority of militarized spending was for weapons, war and the Pentagon, at $920 billion.
• Only $56 billion was spent for international affairs, diplomacy, and humanitarian foreign aid.

The US spent $51.1 billion for homeland security, approximately half of which goes to ICE ($8.8 billion) and CBP ($17.4 billion).

These are the agencies responsible for deportations, family separations, and violent apprehension at the southern border. That’s nearly three times spending on substance abuse and mental health programs ($7.5 billion), even as opioid use remains a major cause of death.

The US federal budget allocated twice as much for federal law enforcement as for childcare and early childhood education programs.

Federal law enforcement includes federal prisons, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies , and was allocated $31 billion. Child care and early childhood education programs only received $15 billion.

Since 2001, the US has added $2 to the discretionary budget for militarism for every $1 added to invest in communities.

• Spending on care for veterans has nearly tripled since 2001, following 20 years of war, repeated deployments for the 3 million veterans who served in the post-9/11 wars, and rampant physical and mental health needs of returning veterans.
• Spending on homeland security (excluding FEMA) has more than doubled since 2001, and spending on the military and nuclear weapons has grown by 80 percent, in inflation-adjusted terms.

Militarism Mania
Here are the militarized federal programs that together account for nearly two-thirds of all discretionary spending.

And here’s how those programs compare to everything else in the discretionary budget.

These lopsided figures reflect the tremendous militarization of the federal budget in the more than two decades since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Redefining Security
Spending on the military and homeland security has too often failed to meaningfully contribute to security.

The post-9/11 “war on terror,” for example, has cost more than $8 trillion and contributed to a horrific death toll of 4.5 million people in affected regions. Meanwhile, a US military budget that outpaces Russia’s by more than 10 to 1 has failed to prevent or end the Russian war in Ukraine.

Similarly, vast investments in “border security” and a huge deportation apparatus have failed to produce a functional immigration system while harming millions of families. And federal law enforcement, including the war on drugs, has contributed to the world’s largest incarcerated population while failing to control addiction or reduce overdose deaths.

The harm these programs have done is compounded by the parallel failure to invest in other urgent needs and crises. For example:

• The Department of Homeland Security received more thanseven timesthe funding for the Centers for Disease Control over the past 20 years, contributing to the under-preparedness that allowed the US to reach 1.1 million deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• For what the US spent on our military during the 9/11 wars, we could have invested in a fully renewable national electric grid to slow the effects of climate change — nearlyfour times over.
• Likewise, road, rail, and air traffic safety programs show signs of underinvestment, as became apparent during theFAA system outagethat grounded thousands of flights, or the toxic threat created by a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
• Andmany K-12 public schools that are already facingstaffing shortages and a student mental health crisis are dependent on federal aid to provide a bulwark against the heavily local, unequal funding provided by cities and states.

In fact, in the past 20 years, the only time that discretionary funding for non-militarized programs equaled the militarism budget was at the height of the COVID pandemic, when Congress enacted billions to stem the dual health and economic crises. Congress has now ended those programs.

Recommenations;
How to Narrow the Divide

1. Immediately reduce the budget for the Pentagon and nuclear weapons by $100 billion or more, and reinvest the savings in non-militarized discretionary priorities.

There are multiple paths to achieve these savings while keeping Americans safe.

• The Congressional Budget Office found that the US military could achieve $100 billion in savings without changing the country’s national security strategy.The military budget has grown substantially since this estimate, meaning real potential for cuts could be greater.
• A Department of Defense study found$125 billionin unnecessary back-office expenses (and the Pentagon buried the report) that could be trimmed.
• Even Pentagon leaders have called fordivesting from wasteful, ineffective, or dangerous weapons like theF-35 jet fighter, the Littoral Combat Ship, and planned reinvestment in nuclear weapons. Savings could reach trillions over the next several decades.
• The US has more than750 military installationsin more than 80 countries around the world, many dating as far back as World War II. Closing bases that support authoritarian governments, those that are opposed by local residents, and those that serve questionable security purposes could save billions.
  •  Reduce reliance on contractors, who account forhalf of the Pentagon budget each year. Studies have shown that Pentagon contractors provide the same services at a higher cost than government workers.

Make any future Pentagon spendingincreases contingent on the Departmentof Defense passing an audit.

The Department of Defense is the only major federal agency never to pass an audit. It’s failed five in a row.

Increase congressional oversight to make it harder for the US to go to war and accrue war debt.

Two military force authorization votes in the early aughts led the US into 20 years of war, at a cost of $8 trillion, and cost many veterans and their families their stability and health. Existing authorizations should be repealed and future ones should be subject to much greater scrutiny.

Also, cut spending for structures that are built to deter immigration and deport immigrants, including Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Reinvest in alternatives including anti-poverty programs, community support and mental health services, and substance use support programs.

About the National Priorities Project
The National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies fights for a federal budget that prioritizes peace, economic opportunity and shared prosperity for all. The National Priorities Project is the only nonprofit, non-partisan federal budget research program in the nation with the mission to make the federal budget accessible to the American public.

For sixty years, the Institute for Policy Studies has served as a leading multi-issue research organization that provides key fact-based support for bold policy solutions to urgent issues from rising inequality to the climate crisis. Follow IPS on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to learn more about our programs and research.

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