U.S. military spending: Here is the newest information

Most of the federal spending for nuclear weapons is in the Dept. of ENERGY budget, not in the Dept. of “Defense.”

I don’t know how much of the spending for space weapons is in the budgets of the various agencies.

The MILITARY budget is huge — and every year it has been getting MORE AND MORE HUGE.  President Trump kept increasing the amounts he was requesting, and Congress kept adding to that.  Now President Biden has been increasing the amounts he has been asking for, and Congress keeps adding to that.

Voters need to know that this is a BI-PARTISAN crisis.  Also, voters need to know that MILITARY WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS DONATE HEAVILY to candidates in BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES.

Military sector donors contributed $3.4 million to House Armed Services Committee members in the 2022 election cycle.  https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/07/defense-sector-donors-contributed-3-4-million-to-house-armed-services-committee-members-in-the-2022-election-cycle/

 

 

NEWEST INFORMATION about U.S. military spending:  The Unitarian-Universalist denomination urges peace.  They have an office that interacts with the United Nations.  Olympia’s Joanne Dufour (a very knowledgeable member of the Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) has a long history of high-level interactions with them.  She provided the information in the next two paragraphs, which the UU office sent her on July 19, 2022:

 

Military Expenditure: Senate Armed Services releases full $847 billion defense bill The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) today released the text of its annual defense policy bill, boosting the department’s procurement and research funds by billions over its budget request. The SASC version of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act would authorize a $45 billion increase in defense spending over the budget request, to a total of $847 billion, at a time when high inflation is eating into the Pentagon’s coffers, the US is contending with an increasingly aggressive China and the Pentagon is shipping weapons to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country. (Breaking Defense https://breakingdefense.com

 

The House Military Spending Bill Is a Massive Giveaway to the Weapons Industry On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy goals and recommends a number for total Pentagon spending. The final version of the bill will be determined later this year. The House bill would set spending for the Pentagon and related activities like work on nuclear warheads at the Department of Energy at an astonishing $850 billion, $37 billion more than the Pentagon even asked for in its FY2023 budget request. The vast bulk of the added funds will go to pad the bottom lines of contractors like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics. Of the $37 billion in add-ons to the Pentagon’s proposal, over two-thirds — or $25 billion — will go to weapons procurement and research and development, categories of funding that mostly go to contractors. By contrast, the increase for military personnel and health was just $1 billion, an indication that corporate profits continue to come

 

I’m providing this information from another well-informed source (www.codepink.org) about the GIGANTIC military spending bill the House passed on July 14, 2022:

Congress keeps saying we can’t afford to fund solutions to poverty, health care, etc., but they ALWAYS have a HUGE amount of money to spend on military violence.

CODEPINK’s Marcy Winograd posted this on July 15, 2022:

House authorizes record $839 billion Pentagon budget.In a 329-101 vote, the House passed its version of the NDAA on Thursday, approving $839 billion in Pentagon spending.[Politico/ Connor O’Brien and Lawrence Ukenye] [Reuters/ Patricia Zengerle] [The Hill/ Jordan Williams] [Wall Street Journal/ Lindsay Wise]

In an unsuccessful 151-277 vote, a majority of House Democrats and 14 Republicans backed an amendment from Reps Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan to roll back the $37 billion spending increase over Biden’s budget request. The House also rejected another Lee/ Pocan amendment to cut $100 billion from the top line in a 78-350 vote. [The Hill/ Jordan Williams] [Politico/ Connor O’Brien and Lawrence Ukenye] [Common Dreams/ Brett Wilkins] [Rep. Barbara Lee] [Win Without War] [Public Citizen] 

 What’s in and what’s out of the NDAA. The House considered hundreds of other amendments late Wednesday and earlier Thursday, including an amendment from Rep. Barbara Lee to repeal the 2002 Iraq AUMF that was accepted en bloc and a provision from Rep. Jamaal Bowman to end the unauthorized US military presence in Syria that was rejected 155-273.  [Politico/ Connor O’Brien and Lawrence Ukenye] [NIAC]

See some other notable highlights of what did and didn’t make it through the House floor in the NDAA section below.

House NDAA Bars Pentagon From Assisting Afghanistan in Any Way.Even as millions of Afghans face starvation, the House included language in the NDAA that would bar any and all humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through the Pentagon.

 

 

NDAA

House authorizes record $839 billion Pentagon budget

·  In a 329-101 vote, the House passed its version of the NDAA, approving $839 billion in Pentagon spending — a figure that’s about $37 billion more than the Biden administration’s already record-high request.

·  “I couldn’t meet the gaze of constituents who have been begging their elected officials to deliver increased funding for abortion access, paid family leave, universal health care, student debt cancellation and more, & tell them I sided with a bloated Pentagon budget instead,” Rep. Andy Levin, one of the progressives who voted against it, said on Twitter. [Twitter/ Rep. Andy Levin]

·  SASC Chairman Jack Reed said that the Senate will likely begin debating its version of the bill in September. That bill will likely approve an even higher top line budget than the House version. [Politico/ Connor O’Brien and Lawrence Ukenye] [Reuters/ Patricia Zengerle][The Hill/ Jordan Williams] [Wall Street Journal/ Lindsay Wise]

Majority of House Democrats back reversing Pentagon spending increases

·  In an unsuccessful 151-277 vote, a majority of House Democrats and 14 Republicans backed an amendment from Reps Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan to roll back the chamber’s $37 billion Pentagon spending increase, bringing the top line number in line with Biden’s request.

·  The House also rejected another Lee/ Pocan amendment to cut $100 billion from the top line in a 78-350 vote.

·  While both votes failed, Public Citizen’s Robert Weisman said that they demonstrate growing support and that “the American people are on to the racket and mobilizing to demand a reallocation of funding away from the Pentagon and to priority human needs.” [The Hill/ Jordan Williams] [Politico/ Connor O’Brien and Lawrence Ukenye] [Common Dreams/ Brett Wilkins] [Rep. Barbara Lee] [Win Without War] [Public Citizen] 

What’s in and what’s out in the House NDAA

·  In addition to the votes on reducing top line spending, the House considered hundreds of other amendments late Wednesday and early Thursday morning. Here are some notable highlights of what did and didn’t make it through floor votes.

·  Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s amendment to end the unauthorized US military presence in Syria was rejected in a 155-273 vote. [House clerk] [Twitter/ Stephen Miles]

·  Amendments from Rep. Barbara Lee to repeal the 2002 Iraq AUMF and express support for  sunsetting other AUMFs were accepted en bloc. [Politico/ Connor O’Brien and Lawrence Ukenye] [NIAC]

·  A bipartisan amendment from Rep. Sara Jacobs and Rep. Warren Davidson requiring Leahy law human rights vetting for military support provided through the 127e and 1202 programs was accepted en bloc. [Air Force Times/ Kyle Rempfer] [Twitter/ Rep. Sara Jacobs]

·  Rep. Adam Schiff’s amendment to require military commission proceedings to be publicly available online was adopted 218-207. [House clerk]

·  An amendment from Rep. Ted Lieu and six other Democrats was accepted en bloc mandating that – consistent with GAO recommendations – the State Department adopt guidelines to investigate the use of US weapons in Saudi-led coalition attacks on civilians in Yemen. [Rules Committee] [Stars and Stripes/ J.P. Lawrence] [AP/ Ellen Knickmeyer] [New York Times/ Edward Wong] [GAO] 

·  Rep. Gerry Connolly’s amendment to impose temporary restrictions on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and require new reports on the murder of Jamaal Khashoggi was approved en bloc.[House clerk] 

·  Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Peter DeFazio’s amendment to increase transparency on the cost of the US military’s overseas footprint was accepted en bloc. [Rules Committee] 

House NDAA Bars Pentagon From Assisting Afghanistan in Any Way

·  Even as millions of Afghans face starvation, the House included language in the NDAA that would bar all assistance to Afghanistan through the Pentagon.

·  If passed into the law, the provision would be a major roadblock to US humanitarian aid efforts, much of which are carried out by the military.

·  An amendment introduced by Rep. Ilhan Omar to remove the provision from the bill was ruled out of order by the Rules Committee and did not receive a vote this week.

·  “Afghanistan is facing one of the most horrific humanitarian crises in the planet. We should be doing everything in our power to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, not needlessly limiting the aid we can supply,” Omar said. [The Intercept/ Daniel Boguslaw][Twitter/ Ryan Grim] [Twitter/ Ilhan Omar]

Tess Bridgeman: In Support of Sunsets: Easy Yes Votes on AUMF Reform

·  Prior to the House votes on NDAA amendments this week, Bridgeman laid out the case for why including sunsets in AUMFs is crucial. [Commentary/ Just Security/ Tess Bridgeman]

Report: Defense sector has contributed $3.4 million to HASC members this election cycle

·  The defense sector contributed $3.4 million to the 59 lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee so far this election cycle, a new OpenSecrets analysis found.

·  Julia Gledhill, a defense policy analyst at Project on Government Oversight, told OpenSecrets that contributions can help companies “get your foot in the door” with congressional offices. “Lobbyists play the long game,” shel said. [Open Secrets/ Taylor Giorno] 

Congress has added $58 billion to the current Pentagon budget throughout the fiscal year

·  Congress has added more than $58 billion in supplemental military spending throughout the current fiscal year, a Pentagon report found.

·  The spending increases have covered military aid but have also bankrolled billions in new weapons that the Pentagon did not request. [Roll Call/ John M. Donnelly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1498 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org