The US’s trillion-dollar military habit

The United States spends more on its military than any other country on Earth—and then some. In fact, it spends more than the next nine countries combined, including China, Russia, India, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. This isn’t a marginal difference. It’s a chasm.

At roughly $900–$1 trillion a year, the U.S. defense budget accounts for nearly 40% of global military spending. No rival comes close. China, the world’s second-largest military spender, spends roughly one-third of what the United States does. Russia spends a fraction of that. Even if Washington cut its military budget in half, the United States would still outspend every other nation on the planet.

This raises an obvious question: What are we buying with all this money—and at what cost to the rest of American society?

The Cost of Permanent Militarization

Much of the defense budget is justified in the language of “national security,” yet a growing body of audits and oversight reports shows that billions are spent on weapons systems that are never used, deployed, or finished. Planes sit grounded for lack of parts. Vehicles are built for wars that never come. Ammunition expires in warehouses. Entire weapons programs are canceled after consuming tens of billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has never undergone a full financial audit. Trillions in assets cannot be fully accounted for. In any other government agency—or private corporation—this level of financial opacity would be considered scandalous. In defense spending, it has become routine.

This is not merely waste. It is a policy choice: a decision to prioritize global military dominance over domestic well-being.

Imagine a 25% Cut

Now imagine something modest—by historical and international standards, even conservative: a 25% cut to the U.S. defense budget.

That would free up roughly $225 to $250 billion per year.

The United States would still be the world’s largest military spender by a wide margin. Our nuclear deterrent would remain intact. Our alliances would remain intact. Our military superiority would remain intact.

What would change is what we could finally afford to do at home.

What $250 Billion Could Actually Buy

With a quarter of the defense budget redirected, the U.S. could:

• Education
  • Make public college tuition-free nationwide
  • Triple funding for K-12 schools in low-income districts
  • Cancel student loan interest or significantly reduce student debt burdens
• Health Care
  • Expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing
  • Fully fund community health centers in every underserved region
  • Dramatically reduce prescription drug costs for seniors
• Social Security
  • Extend the solvency of Social Security for decades
  • Increase benefits so seniors don’t have to choose between food and medicine
• Housing & Infrastructure
  • Build millions of affordable housing units
  • Repair failing bridges, water systems, and public transit
  • Modernize the electric grid and invest in climate resilience
• Veterans—Ironically Enough
  • Fully fund mental health care for veterans
  • End homelessness among former service members
  • Eliminate backlogs in VA care

These aren’t fantasies. They are budgetary trade-offs.

Security Isn’t Just Military Power

A nation where people are educated, housed, healthy, and economically secure is safer—internally and externally. Yet year after year, Congress treats military spending as untouchable while debating whether the country can “afford” schools, healthcare, or retirement security.

We can afford all of it. We simply choose not to.

The question is no longer whether the U.S. spends too much on defense. The numbers make that clear. The real question is how long Americans will accept a system that funds every imaginable weapon—while treating human needs as luxuries.

A 25% cut wouldn’t weaken America. It would finally strengthen it.