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Pentagon and Immigration Spending in GOP Bill Could Instead Protect Medicaid Coverage
"Stealing money away from life-sustaining programs to fund war, weapons, and death should be an immediate nonstarter for every member of Congress," said one advocate and author of a new report.
May 23, 2025
With the House GOP's Medicaid-slashing reconciliation bill now headed to the Republican-controlled Senate, a trio of groups on Thursday highlighted that the tens of billions the reconciliation legislation allocates for the Pentagon and the Trump administration's immigration crackdown efforts could instead be used to protect and expand health insurance access for millions.
House Republicans' reconciliation bill includes $163 billion for the Pentagon and for mass deportation and border-related expenses that U.S. President Donald Trump has requested be allocated in fiscal year 2026. Those dollars could instead go toward providing 31 million adults with Medicaid, or providing 71 million people with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, according to a report titled Trading Life for Death: What the Reconciliation Bill Puts at Stake in Your State.
The report is a joint publication from the progressive watchdog Public Citizen, the progressive policy research organization the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), and the National Priorities Project (NPP), which is a federal budget research organization and a project of IPS.
In a statement on Thursday, Lindsay Koshgarian, program director at NPP and one of the authors of the report, framed the reconciliation package as a "direct redistribution of resources from struggling Americans to the Pentagon and militarization."
The reconciliation bill, which passed 215-214 in the House of Representatives on Thursday, includes tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy that would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt, a roll back in clean energy tax credits, sweeping cuts to Medicaid and SNAP to the tune of nearly $1 trillion, and an increase in the maximum payment available through the child tax credit until 2028—though the bill is designed so that it would block an estimated 4.5 million children from accessing the credit, according to the Center for Migration Studies.
Under the legislation, an estimated 8.6 million people would lose Medicaid coverage over the next 10 years, according to a May 11 analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that 11 million people would be at risk of losing at least some of their food assistance under the changes to SNAP.
Millions more could lose their healthcare due to Obamacare decisions/provisions.
Per the report, the militarized spending increases for 2026 would more than enough to fund Medicaid for the millions who are at risk of losing their health insurance under the bill, and the millions at risk of losing their SNAP benefits.
In addition to highlighting that the bill includes a huge cash injection for the U.S. Department of Defense, the report argues the Pentagon does not need more money. "The United States is already the world's largest military spender, allocating more taxpayer dollars to the Pentagon than the next nine countries combined," according to the report, which also notes that the department has never passed an audit.
The three groups also quantify the tradeoffs between defense spending and healthcare at a more granular level.
For example, the bill includes a $25 billion initial investment in Trump's "Golden Dome" project, a multilayered defense system that Trump has said will be capable of "intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space," according to CBS News.
In just one congressional district, Tennessee's 2nd District, taxpayer funds going toward the investment in the Golden Dome could instead be used to put 12,310 people on Medicaid, according to the report. In Texas' 21st District, taxpayers' funds redirected to support the Golden Dome could provide Medicaid to 13,589 people.
"If implemented, this budget would rip the rug out from under everyday Americans relying on Medicaid and SNAP to survive, just to further enrich Pentagon contractors," said Savannah Wooten, People Over Pentagon advocate at Public Citizen and report co-author, in a statement on Thursday. "Stealing money away from life-sustaining programs to fund war, weapons, and death should be an immediate nonstarter for every member of Congress."
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Senate GOP Blocks Schumer Bill After Pentagon Accepts Qatari Jet for Trump
"It's a bribe. It's a national security threat," the Senate minority leader said. "But Republicans stood with Trump and blocked my bill."
May 21, 2025
Just hours after the Pentagon formally accepted a luxury jet for U.S. President Donald Trump from Qatar, Senate Republicans thwarted Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's attempt to pass by unanimous consent legislation intended to prevent a foreign plane from serving as Air Force One.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) blocked Schumer's (D-N.Y.) Presidential Airlift Security Act, which the Democratic leader had announced on Tuesday—along with vowing to continue a "hold on all political Department of Justice nominees until we get more answers about this clearly unethical deal."
The jet is "the largest foreign gift to an American president in modern history, one Donald Trump says will go to his presidential library after his term," Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday. "This gift is outrageous. Donald Trump will berate companies to ' eat his tariffs' and tell parents to pay more for groceries, but is accepting a luxury plane he can use as Air Force One."
"This gift screams national security risk. It is bribery in broad daylight. Donald Trump is thumbing his nose at Republicans and practically daring them to stop him. Well, today, the Senate can," he said, just before Marshall blocked the bill's passage. "Donald Trump accepting this gift reeks of corruption and naked self-enrichment, and Republicans should stand up and support my bill, defend national security, and protect Americans."
The legislation would have prohibited "even a single taxpayer dollar from being used by the Department of Defense to procure, modify, retrofit, or maintain any foreign aircraft for the purposes of transporting a U.S. president," the senator said.
Schumer's remarks followed the chief Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell, confirming receipt of the plane in a Wednesday statement.
"The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Parnell said. "The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States."
Asked about the Pentagon's statement by NBC News' Peter Alexander at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said: "You oughta get out of here. What does this have to do with the Qatari jet? They're giving the United States Air Force a jet, OK, and it's a great thing."
The gifted jet—valued at $ 200-400 million—has sparked widespread concerns, with critics calling Trump "grifter-in-chief" and condemning his plan to use taxpayer dollars to modify the plane so that it can serve as Air Force One, then transfer it to his library upon leaving office, as "indefensible," "incredibly illegal," and "comically corrupt."
According toThe New York Times:
Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, publicly said on Monday for the first time that his government had approved turning over the plane as a gift, rejecting the idea of it being an attempt to influence the president.
"I don't know why people, they are thinking," he said, before continuing: "This is considered as a bribery or considered as, something that Qatar wants to buy and influence with this administration. I don't see any, honestly, a valid reason for that."
He added: "We are a country that would like to have strong partnership and strong friendship, and anything that we provide to any country, it's provided out of respect for this partnership and it's a two-way relationship. It's mutually beneficial for Qatar and for the United States."
"It's a bribe. It's a national security threat," Schumer said on social media Wednesday evening. "But Republicans stood with Trump and blocked my bill. THAT'S NOT AMERICA FIRST."
Meanwhile, in the Republican-controlled lower chamber of Congress, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) expanded his probe into the Qatari plane, demanding answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, by June 4.
"Please provide all documents and communications related to the $400 million ultraluxury airplane, including any communications, agreements, or draft agreements with the state of Qatar, L3Harris, and the Palm Beach Airport as soon as possible," Raskin also wrote. "The information and documents you provide will help us determine whether the $400 million ultraluxury 'gift,' already suffering from insurmountable ethical, constitutional, and logistical problems, is the result of a campaign of illegal extortion by this administration."
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Trump Is Making the Pentagon an Even Bigger Budget Buster, Purging Programs People Need
In the Republican’s budget, programs elevating lives in the working and middle class are sacrificed to enrich the wealthiest and the defense industry.
May 09, 2025
In his budget outline for fiscal year 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump proposes a massive increase in defense spending. An increase coupled with cuts in social and environmental programs defending the health and well-being of the populace. Cuts on top of the destruction of governmental infrastructure by Elon Musk and the invasion of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency—the DOGE troopers—which fractured infrastructure in programs geared toward the well-being of the general public.
Trump’s fascination with his version of an Iron Dome defense system for the United States earlier found its way into one of Trump’s many executive orders. And the House of Representatives has moved closer to including nearly $25 billion for Trump’s now-named Golden Dome within an increase of over $150 billion in defense spending, pushing the Pentagon’s annual budget up to $1,000 billion (that’s $1 trillion).
And the known massive waste in defense expenditures springing from this influence remains basically untouched by DOGE. Let’s not forget, Elon Musk’s companies are part of defense spending.
This will increase the Pentagon’s share of any deficit also fueled by tax cuts Republicans salivate over passing. Those tax cuts disproportionally benefitting the wealthiest as shown in the budget model at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Falsely Blaming Social Security
Republicans frequently hide behind the false narrative that Social Security is the budget buster, not national defense spending nor their get-more-rich tax cuts. Disinformation sadly reinforced by typical charts on federal spending—even those created at the Treasury Department and by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—showing Social Security the top spender of federal dollars. And sadly bolstering the misinformed (as apparently have been some in Congress and the news media) thinking Social Security grabs more dollars from the same basket of monies as other federal programs, among them the Defense Department.
Such erroneous depiction makes Social Security an easy target for scapegoating to deflect from the real damage in today’s Republican priorities.
Let me make it as clear as possible. Social Security is funded today, as since its creation, principally by its separate dedicated payroll tax, not from the basket of general revenue as is the case in spending at the Pentagon. And it is depletion in general-revenue receipts that leads to budget deficits.
Until recent years, Social Security had surpluses from its dedicated funding source, without a drop needed from the basket of general revenue. Instead buying Treasury securities or bonds as required by law with surplus funds, which in essence was Social Security loaning the government monies to pay for other programs.
In calendar year 2023, Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance combined expenditures were $1,392 billion as reported in the Social Security Trustees 2024 report (Table II.B1., page 7). Social Security’s payroll tax then covered 88.6% of its costs in 2023, or $1,233 billion. The remaining $159 billion in outlays were covered by revenues from taxes on Social Security benefits, interest on Treasury securities or bonds previously bought, and liquidating some of those Treasury securities. At most, about 12% of Social Security costs depended on coverage from revenue other than solely the payroll tax.
Now compare to national defense spending. As reported in Federal Reserve Economic Data, in calendar year 2023 expenditures for national defense totaled $785 billion. This total sum feeding completely from the general-revenue trough. And in 2023 taking at least five times more from that trough than Social Security (785/159) even when including taxes on Social Security benefits. Exclude taxes on benefits ($51 billion) because accounting wise included in Social Security’s separate funding, and the Pentagon consumption is over seven times more (785/108).
Increase Pentagon’s budget to $1,000 billion and, well, spending by the Secretary of Defense becomes an even bigger budget buster.
Attacking Medicaid
Neither is Medicaid a budget buster next to defense spending. CBO shows federal expenditures for Medicaid are $232 billion less than outlays for national defense in reporting available for fiscal year 2024. Less, not more. Despite this, Republicans seem primed to cut Medicaid to partly compensate for another Republican administration raising rather than decreasing the deficit long before Trump’s first administration.
As data reported by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) indicate, about 70% of total spent nationally in fiscal year 2023 across Medicaid programs in each state entailed federal monies. Federal funds already billions less than outlays for national defense. And even more billions less if Republicans ultimately do increase the defense budget as planned.
Given Medicaid is administered by each state with a combination of state and federal monies, some Republican strategies to cut Medicaid include reducing federal monies allowed states, leaving it to states to fill the revenue gap or cut services.
A battle among oligarchs over the expansion of monies in the budget made available to them by Republican lawmakers.
As the Kaiser Family Foundation’s analysis showed, the elderly population receiving Medicaid-paid services, principally in nursing homes or at home, accounted nationally for 20% of total Medicaid spending in 2021. With nearly another third of Medicaid expenses servicing individuals with disabilities, plus around 15% involving services for children.
So happens also, data reported by MACPAC indicate among the 10 states whose Medicaid budgets in 2023 relied the most on federal monies (from between 79% to 82% federal funds in AR, AZ, ID, KY, LA, MS, MT, NM, OK, and WV), nine voted for Trump in 2024. While among the 10 states relying least on federal monies (from between 60% to 64% in CO, CT, MA, MD, MN, NH, NJ, NY, PA, and WY), 8 voted for Kamala Harris.
Seems Republicans have a constituency issue in cutting Medicaid to dampen the increasing deficit spending alone from Trumpian excitement in increasing defense spending, to say nothing about lowering taxes for the wealthiest.
President Dwight Eisenhower in his farewell speech in 1961 stated: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” And the known massive waste in defense expenditures springing from this influence remains basically untouched by DOGE. Let’s not forget, Elon Musk’s companies are part of defense spending.
Then also, as the Government Accountability Office reports, contract spending at the Department of Defense accounts for the majority of federal monies going to private companies. Lockheed Martin, for one, doesn’t even hide drooling over potential contracts for the Golden Dome initiative. The Guardianreports, Musk also is apparently working to steer even more governmental contracts toward his companies. And that apparently includes working to grab new contracted work anticipated in the Golden Dome project.
A battle among oligarchs over the expansion of monies in the budget made available to them by Republican lawmakers. Expansion with rationalization validating through hefty decreases in monies available in programs benefitting the health, education, security, and freedom in communal experience among ordinary people.
Everyday people sacrificed on the altar.
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