On March 17, 2025, DefenseScoop reported that Congress approved $141 billion for Pentagon research and development — an amount larger than the budgets of most federal agencies, and close to the size of the seven next largest military budgets around the world. Yet, as usual, there was little debate. Instead, military leaders and lawmakers lamented that the figure was $7 billion less than last year due to budget caps set under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, as if anything short of perpetual increases is a crisis.
Meanwhile, how many times have we heard that there’s no money for universal pre-K? That expanding Medicare is too expensive? That raising the minimum wage would hurt the economy?
In the United States, “national security” has become an unquestioned justification for endless military spending — even as millions of Americans struggle with medical debt, housing instability and underfunded schools. The real crisis isn’t that the Pentagon’s budget decreased — it’s that our leaders continue to prioritize war over human well-being.
Despite years of record-high military budgets, politicians and defense officials act as if the Pentagon is perpetually underfunded. This year’s defense topline is still $892.5 billion, with major allocations going to the Department of Defense, Oversees Contingency Operations and nuclear weapons activities through the Department of Energy — and yet, Washington claims that even this isn’t enough.
This trend of ever-expanding military budgets spans administrations and party lines. In April, President Donald Trump reportedly floated a $1 trillion military budget, a move that was met with fierce criticism from peace advocates and policy experts who called it a “profound moral failure” — especially in a nation where millions struggle with housing insecurity, medical debt and food instability. While the details of Trump’s proposed plan were vague, the fact that such a number was even considered illustrates how normalized excessive military spending has become. Whether it’s $892.5 billion or $1 trillion, the result is the same: a militarized state that funnels public resources into war readiness rather than community care.
What gets lost in these conversations is that real national security isn’t about military dominance — it’s about ensuring that people have stable lives. Yet we are conditioned to accept that security means an arsenal of hypersonic missiles, autonomous war drones and next-generation cyberwarfare capabilities — not affordable housing, debt-free education or accessible health care.
Consider what $141 billion — the Pentagon’s research and development budget alone — could fund instead: universal pre-K for every U.S. child for over five years, free school meals for 10 million students for a decade, tens of thousands of affordable housing units and full Medicaid expansion in every state that refused it.
Instead, these billions will be spent developing new weapons, artificial intelligence-driven warfare and military space technology, ensuring that military contractors remain flush with taxpayer dollars.
When it comes to funding war, we are always told that “we must do what is necessary.” But when it comes to funding the basic needs of Americans, we hear a different story: Expanding health care? Too expensive. Free community college? Unrealistic. Paid family leave? Who will pay for it? Climate resilience? No room in the budget.
This contradiction is not accidental — it is by design. The same lawmakers who eagerly approve nearly a trillion dollars in military spending claim that helping working people is fiscally irresponsible.
Even within the military budget itself, it’s not troops or veterans who benefit most — it’s military contractors. The Pentagon continues to waste billions on weapons systems that go unused or overbudget, all while companies like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman rake in massive profits.
For example, the ongoing war in Ukraine has led to heightened demand for Raytheon’s defense systems. Specifically, their Patriot missile defense systems have been in greater demand as countries bolster their defense capabilities. Northrop Grumman reported a 4 percent increase in net sales for the fiscal year 2024, reaching $41 billion. This growth is attributed to rising geopolitical tensions and the corresponding demand for military equipment.
But this year’s Pentagon budget isn’t just about war abroad. Recent developments have intensified the U.S. military’s role in domestic operations, particularly concerning immigration enforcement along the southern border. This shift reflects a strategic move towards increased militarization within U.S. borders.
At a recent press conference, military officials framed immigration as a security threat and announced that the U.S.S. Gravely is being sent to patrol the Gulf of Mexico. The administration is seeking “100% operational control” of the southern border, further blurring the line between national defense and domestic militarization. The U.S.S. Gravely is tasked with intercepting unauthorized maritime activities, including unauthorized immigration and drug smuggling. Admiral Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Northern Command, stated that this deployment significantly strengthens the nation’s border security framework.
Similarly, the U.S.S. Spruance has been deployed to patrol the West Coast, contributing to a coordinated Department of Defense response to achieve operational control of the border.
Beyond naval deployments, approximately 10,000 active-duty troops and 2,500 National Guardsmen have been stationed along the U.S.-Mexico border. These forces are equipped with armored fighting vehicles, helicopters and advanced surveillance technologies, including spy planes and drones, to monitor and deter unauthorized border crossings. This represents a significant escalation in the militarization of border enforcement.
These actions have raised concerns among legal experts and human rights advocates. The deployment of military forces for domestic law enforcement purposes may conflict with the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits the use of federal military personnel in civilian law enforcement roles.
The current administration’s approach emphasizes a militarized response to immigration, prioritizing force and surveillance over addressing the root causes of migration — climate change, economic instability and violence exacerbated by past U.S. interventions.
The endless cycle of military expansion ensures that every crisis — whether global or domestic — is treated as an excuse for bigger military budgets.
What if we defined security not as military supremacy, but as people having what they need to live stable, dignified lives? What if, instead of spending billions on war technology, we invested in a health care system where no one goes bankrupt over medical bills, a living wage and universal paid leave, schools that don’t rely on GoFundMe for supplies, infrastructure that doesn’t crumble at the first sign of disaster?
True national security starts with collective well-being. When people don’t have access to housing, education, medical care and basic stability, the entire society becomes more vulnerable — economically, emotionally and politically. A secure nation is one where people are not living on the edge. When everyone has what they need to thrive, we are all safer.
The truth is, we already have the money. We just choose to spend it on war instead of on people.
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