Every year, Congress and the White House add hundreds of billions of dollars more to the war budget, while underfunding health care, food assistance, clean water, and more. The current budget for the Pentagon is a whopping $1 trillion. For next year, Congress is planning to add a record-breaking $500 billion more, bringing total spending on war to $1.5 trillion!

In just weeks, Congress will vote on this unprecedented war budget. That’s why we’re convening experts to discuss how corporate greed drives our militarized budget, the real-life impacts, where we could fund our communities instead, and next steps to oppose this egregious war spending. 

Join We Build Progress on Thursday, June 18, 2026 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET for our briefing: Billions for Bombs, Pennies for the People. At a moment when people are struggling to afford groceries, pay medical bills, and send their kids to school, we’ll break down what fuels the war machine and what it would take to craft a budget that funds human needs—not death and destruction.