Reforming the Next
National Defense Authorization Act
Win Without War

(June 8, 2023) — In the coming week Congress will start to negotiate next year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and whether to pour BILLIONS more into the already bloated military budget. For months, Congress has scoured budget lines to find “savings” that will cost lives and livelihoods by nickel-and-diming social programs that help teachers, veterans, and struggling families. And they did it all while refusing even minor cuts to funding for weapons and war.

Our fight for spending that prioritizes genuine security instead of arms contractor profits is more urgent than ever.

When it’s all said and done, current estimates peg next year’s national “security” budget at over $1.5 TRILLION.

So it’s BAFFLING that less than 24 hours after the US government avoided falling off the cliff to default — sacrificing human needs for the war machine — Senators like Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins were already clamoring for even MORE money for the Pentagon.

The good news? Their absurdity has created a HUGE opportunity to push back.

In the coming days, Congress will negotiate next year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and whether to pour BILLIONS more into the failed F-35 fighter jet, dangerous, unnecessary nukes, and stalled boats like the Littoral Combat Ship.With our broken priorities laid bare by the debt ceiling fight, we’re coming in with a huge advantage to STOP the weapons payouts and build something better.

We’re pushing on all fronts — relentlessly advocating with allies on the Hill and in the White House, building momentum across the movement with our partners, pushing this to the top of the media agenda, and creating a grassroots crescendo of activism too loud to ignore.

For months, Congress has scoured budget lines to find “savings” that will cost lives and livelihoods by nickel-and-diming social programs that help teachers, veterans, and struggling families. And they did it all while refusing even minor cuts to funding for weapons and war.

This year’s $858 BILLION Pentagon budget is already at a record-breaking high — and STILL more than the military budgets of South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, India, and China COMBINED. All while not passing an audit.

If we don’t fight back, that number is all but guaranteed to rise. Because while the Biden-McCarthy deal capped funding for social programs, it padded the Pentagon budget by 3.3%. Some lawmakers are now recklessly calling for an “emergency supplemental” to pile more money on top of that $886 BILLION pot. Newsflash: the Pentagon doesn’t have a money problem, it has a waste and corruption problem. 

A Republican Love Letter to Pentagon Spending

Where’s the “emergency supplemental” for Social Security, healthcare, housing, or the fight against climate change?

The silver lining is that this hawkish ridiculousness is so WILDLY out of step with public opinion and public needs that we believe it could become the Achilles heel of the war machine. It will create a crucial opportunity to CUT the blank checks for weapons and war — and INVEST in social programs that help our communities thrive.

Here’s the plan: First, we push back during the upcoming House and Senate NDAA negotiations, where the funds for everything from the Pentagon to Homeland Security to nuclear programs at the Department of Energy are authorized.

Then, we go EVEN HARDER to stop Congress from spending even one dime on unnecessary, dangerous weapons programs like SLCM-N or failing, spiraling costs like the F-35 fighter jet — and that’s coming up fast.

Budgets are moral documents. They set our priorities. And right now, people from across the country are united in one demand: CUT the Pentagon budget and SAVE social programs.

With your help, we’ll hold Congress accountable and get our priorities back in order.

Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team