{"id":59771,"date":"2026-06-17T05:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=59771"},"modified":"2026-06-17T05:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:10:14","slug":"slash-the-pentagon-act-would-cap-trumps-military-budget-to-fund-healthcare-education-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/17\/slash-the-pentagon-act-would-cap-trumps-military-budget-to-fund-healthcare-education-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Slash the Pentagon Act\u2019 Would Cap Trump\u2019s Military Budget To Fund Healthcare, Education, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic US Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts took aim Monday at President Donald Trump\u2019s illegal war of choice on Iran and request for a record $1.5 trillion in total military-related spending authorization by introducing legislation that would cap the Pentagon budget at half that amount.<\/p>\n<p>Markey <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.markey.senate.gov\/news\/press-releases\/senator-markey-introduces-legislation-to-slash-wasteful-defense-spending\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">introduced<\/a> the Slash the Pentagon Act at a Capitol Hill press conference that took place \u201cas Americans struggle to pay for healthcare, rent, electricity, groceries, and gas, while Trump has spent over $100 billion on his expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary war with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of funding Medicaid and education or investing in veterans\u2019 care, Republicans want to pad the pockets of gold-plated defense contractors with billions more dollars for weapons and wars we do not need,\u201d Markey said at the press conference.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-x\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Live introducing the Slash the Pentagon Act. We need to cut Trump&#39;s $1.5 TRILLION defense budget. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/o3Z75cEMaU\">https:\/\/t.co\/o3Z75cEMaU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenMarkey\/status\/2066915339011494330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"rm-col-center col sm-mb-1\">\n<div class=\"widget__body clearfix sm-mt-1\">\n<div class=\"body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2677050336\" data-headline=\"'Slash the Pentagon Act' Would Cap Trump's Military Budget to Fund Healthcare, Education, and More\">\n<div class=\"body-description\" data-rm-calc-width=\"700\">\n<p>\u201cJust before SpaceX\u2019s IPO made Elon Musk a <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/elon-musk-first-trillionaire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trillionaire<\/a>, Trump gave SpaceX billions in contracts for his expensive and ineffective \u2018<a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lockheedmartin.com\/en-us\/capabilities\/missile-defense\/golden-dome-missile-defense.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Golden Dome<\/a>\u2019 system,\u201d Markey continued. \u201cCoincidence? No, corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time to put people before the Pentagon and make major cuts to Trump\u2019s bloated and wasteful defense spending,\u201d the senator added. \u201cWe should invest in our hospitals, schools, affordable housing, and the real security American families need right now \u2013 not expensive wars and weapons that make us less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Markey\u2019s bill comes just days after the Senate Armed Services Committee voted 18-9 to <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.armed-services.senate.gov\/press-releases\/sasc-completes-markup-of-national-defense-authorization-act-for-fiscal-year-2027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">advance<\/a> the $1.15 trillion <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.armed-services.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/fy2027_ndaa_exsum.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Defense Authorization Act<\/a> (NDAA) for fiscal year 2027, and the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee approved the <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/appropriations.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-appropriations.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/fy27-defense-subcommittee-mark.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fiscal Year 2027 Defense Appropriations Bill<\/a> during a closed-door markup. The House bill provides $1.072 trillion for the Pentagon and other military-related activities, a $234 billion increase from this year\u2019s enacted level.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration\u2019s broader national security proposal <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/trump-2027-military-budget\" target=\"_self\">requests nearly $1.5 trillion<\/a> in total defense-related spending for 2027, which includes $350 billion in supplemental funding for munitions production, shipbuilding, missile defense, drones, artificial intelligence, and other long-term military programs.<\/p>\n<p>During his press conference, Markey highlighted \u201cbetter ways to use a $750 billion cut from Trump\u2019s $1.5 trillion military budget\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"ee-ul\">\n<li>Build high-speed rail across the nation, expand existing passenger rail service, and electrify the most heavily polluting railyards and corridors ($205 billion);<\/li>\n<li>Cancel 100% of Americans\u2019 medical debt ($220 billion);<\/li>\n<li>Fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and feed hungry families nationwide over the next two years ($200 billion); and<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"\u201credactor-invisible-space\u201d\">Provide children with Head Start and Early Head Start for the next decade ($125 billion).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>Markey was flanked by supporters of his bill.<\/div>\n<p>\u201cFor decades we\u2019ve been told there is always enough money for weapons and war but never enough for the challenges our communities face day to day,\u201d said Shayna Lewis, deputy director of Win Without War.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, as families grapple with rising costs, President Trump is demanding an unthinkable $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget \u2013 all while brushing aside the concerns and struggles of the American people,\u201d Lewis added. \u201cThankfully, a growing coalition of lawmakers is listening, and gearing up to bring spending back into line with people\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democratic US Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts took aim Monday at President Donald Trump\u2019s illegal war of choice on Iran and request for a record $1.5 trillion in total military-related spending authorization by introducing legislation that would cap the Pentagon budget at half that amount. Markey introduced the Slash the Pentagon Act at a Capitol [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_social_image_id":59773,"_social_image_url":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-59771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","_social_image_id":"59773","subtitle":"\u201cIt\u2019s time to put people before the Pentagon and make major cuts to Trump\u2019s bloated and wasteful defense spending,\u201d said Sen. Ed Markey, who introduced the bill."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59771"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59775,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59771\/revisions\/59775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59771"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=59771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}