The Pentagon’s Blank Check, and the People Paying the Price
This May Day, workers are told there’s no money—unless you’re Boeing, Raytheon, or Big Oil.
On May Day, we honor the labor that builds nations, the workers who raise the steel, staff the hospitals, deliver the goods, and keep communities alive. But this year, May Day arrives under a shadow of deepening austerity. Services that feed the hungry, house the unhoused, and care for the sick are being gutted in the name of “efficiency.” Meanwhile, the federal government's most lavish, least accountable arm—the Department of Defense—is being handed billions more with barely a question. Sixty-four years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of the ‘unwarranted influence’ of the military-industrial complex. We didn’t listen. Instead, we built an economy around it. And now, we’re watching it devour the future in real time.
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We Already Have Superiority—And Then Some
The United States maintains the most advanced and well-funded military in human history. We spend more on defense than the next ten countries combined. Our air dominance is backed by fleets of F-22 Raptors, F-35s, stealth bombers, and over 13,000 military aircraft. We have unmatched global strike, surveillance, and cyber capabilities.
The next time someone claims we’re “falling behind,” show them this:
Most nations ramp up military spending in response to a direct existential threat—Napoleon at the gates, global war, imminent invasion. But the U.S. isn't in that position. Trump even ran on getting the U.S. out of global “no-end” wars. We have geographic security, air and naval superiority, and no peer adversary threatening our borders, yet we still spend more than any other nation on Earth, and more than most others combined
The U.S. is a fortress with no invaders, spending like it’s surrounded.
Audit Failures and Financial Black Holes
Despite this overwhelming superiority, the Department of Defense continues to operate with financial opacity that would be unacceptable anywhere else. The Pentagon has failed seven consecutive audits, most recently in 2024, and could only verify 39% of its $4.1 trillion in assets, including aircraft, missiles, ships, buildings, and equipment.
“The Pentagon just failed its 7th audit and is not on track to achieve a clean opinion by 2028. That’s a big problem for an agency whose budget is rapidly approaching $1 trillion.”
— Project On Government Oversight (POGO)“This result was not a surprise... on the surface it doesn't sound like we're making progress. However, that is not the case.”
— Michael McCord, DoD Comptroller
McCord praised progress on “balancing the checkbook,” but admitted the military still couldn’t reliably track physical property:
“We made more progress on the funding than we have on the property.”
In other words, they know what they meant to spend, but not what they actually got. Imagine if you operated your business or home like that.
“The DOD accounts for more than half of the federal government’s discretionary spending and about two-thirds of all federal contracting activity... Every other federal agency has managed to pass an audit.”
— Bipartisan Congressional report, 2023
Why It Keeps Happening: The Military-Industrial Complex
This isn’t just mismanagement; it’s systemic insulation. Top defense contractors spent over $149 million lobbying Congress in 2024 alone. More than 500 former military and government officials now work as lobbyists for defense firms. This isn’t a revolving door. It’s an express lane between public service and private profit.
This isn’t about strategy. It’s about sales. And we all pay the price—not just in dollars, but in the lost opportunities to invest in anything else.
We’ve covered Trump’s “Big Beautiful Budget Bill” before. See our previous reporting for more information on who wins and who loses.
Note: This article is more than 45 days ago and now lives in the archive. Consider becoming a paid subscriber for the full archive, exclusive reporting, and occasional early access.
The Cost of Influence: What We Lose
While the Pentagon can’t track its inventory, public services are being slashed. Housing programs, food assistance, and veteran care are all on the chopping block. We’re told we can’t afford to care for our most vulnerable, but somehow, we can afford Cold War toys.
This month, the Trump administration announced the purchase of 22 new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets, a total of nearly $2 billion. That’s more than enough to end veteran homelessness, restore WIC funding, and invest in future-ready defense systems.
And as Americans tighten their belts, Trump is reportedly planning a military parade for his birthday—tanks, jets, and all. We’re cutting aid for children while staging spectacles for a president’s ego, channeling more Pyongyang than Philadelphia.
That’s not strategy. That’s theft in patriotic packaging.
While the Pentagon prioritizes fighter jets and authoritarian chic, veterans face more and more cuts. See our reporting here for one example:
The Smarter Future: Drones, Not Dinosaurs
We know what modern warfare looks like. We’ve known for decades. The U.S. Navy began experimenting with unmanned systems in the mid-1980s, and the Air Force followed with armed platforms like the Predator and Reaper in the 1990s and early 2000s.
And yet, the Pentagon continues to prioritize legacy aircraft and elite manned platforms over scalable, flexible drone systems.
“Ten to fifteen years from now, my guess is a third, maybe 25% to a third of the U.S. military will be robotic.”
— Gen. Mark Milley, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2024)“Today, what we’re experiencing is the introduction of drones on the ground and at sea, driven by artificial intelligence and the extraordinary capability that that’s going to bring.”
— Gen. Milley, NPR, August 2024
We’re already seeing this play out in real time. In Ukraine, cheap off-the-shelf drones—some cobbled together with 3D-printed parts and GoPros—have destroyed tanks and artillery systems costing millions. Flexibility and precision are winning over brute cost.
And while the U.S. has invested in drones, it continues to prioritize elite, high-cost platforms. What we don’t have is the scale and versatility to match the demands of modern conflict.
We need:
High-end drones for elite missions
Mid-range systems for flexible response
Low-cost, disposable drones for swarming, surveillance, and disruption
This kind of program would be cheaper, more adaptable, and a massive domestic job creator. Instead of a few dozen highly skilled workers, the Pentagon could employ thousands of less-experienced workers who could produce drones domestically.
Instead, we keep choosing long timelines and higher costs. Fighter jet programs take 20–30 years, cost billions before a single deployment, and burn through 25,000 pounds of jet fuel per hour. That’s not just a budgetary disaster; it’s a pipeline to Big Oil’s bottom line. And that’s by design.
Drones don’t need fuel tankers or billion-dollar hangars. They can be mothballed, rapidly deployed, and built en masse here at home.
For the cost of one F-15EX, we could build:
1,700+ Switchblade drones
6,000+ autonomous tactical UAVs
A national manufacturing pipeline
And still have money left to fight hunger and homelessness
But drones don’t feed the contractors or oil barons.
What—and Who—Are We Defending?
Eisenhower warned us not about missiles but about what happens when profit replaces purpose. We didn’t listen.
Now, as working families cut corners to afford bread and shelter, our leaders hand out bullets and birthday parades. And our active military and veterans? What do they receive?
We’re not broke. We’re being looted. And it’s long past time we started asking—not just how much we spend—but who we spend it for.
Call to Action:
This kind of financial mismanagement is not incompetence. It is deliberate.
Call for budget reforms that no longer reward lobbyists and terrible accountants.
Demand services that help real people receive funding over warmongers.
Contact your elected officials and insist on a comprehensive audit of the Pentagon. No increases until they can account for every asset and dollar. And if they can’t? Then they can work with less, just like the rest of us do.
Support efforts to remove lobbyists and big donors from politics. We will never be free so long as corporate money has a bigger voice than the people.
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Bibliography:
Econofact. “Fact Check: Has the Pentagon Failed Its 7th Audit in a Row?” Econofact, November 2024.
Project On Government Oversight (POGO). “It’s Time for Congress to Challenge Years of Failed Pentagon Audits.” POGO, September 24, 2024.
Department of Defense. “Michael J. McCord, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Holds a Press Briefing on the Results of DOD FY 2024 Department-Wide Financial Statement Audit.” Defense.gov, November 15, 2024.
Office of Senator Chuck Grassley. “Grassley, Sanders Make Bipartisan Push to Audit the Pentagon and Curb Wasteful Spending.” Senator Chuck Grassley, May 5, 2023.
OpenSecrets. “Defense Lobbying Profile.” OpenSecrets, 2024.
Truthout. “Over 500 Former Government Officials Are Now Lobbying for Defense Contractors.” Truthout, April 2023.
Reuters. “Trump Announces New Boeing F-15EX Jets for National Guard Base in Michigan.” Reuters, April 29, 2025.
Associated Press. “Trump Might Host a Military Parade in Washington on His Birthday.” AP News, April 7, 2025.
Defense News. “One-Third of US Military Could Be Robotic by 2039: Milley.” Defense News, July 14, 2024.
NPR. “Why the US Isn't Ready for the Wars of the Future, According to Experts.” NPR, August 31, 2024.
Foreign Policy. “Ukraine's Cheap Drones Are Decimating Russia's Tanks.” Foreign Policy, April 9, 2024.
Fly A Jet Fighter. “How Much Fuel Does a Fighter Jet Consume?” Fly A Jet Fighter, March 2024.
Breaking Defense. “Newest F-35, F-15EX Contracts Are Set. Here's How Much They Cost.” Breaking Defense, October 2023.
Wikipedia. “AeroVironment Switchblade.” Wikipedia, 2023.
Forbes. “Some of the Pentagon's Drones Cost Their Weight in Gold.” Forbes, December 4, 2023.