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National Priorities Project

@nationalpriorities.bsky.social

1.2K followers 66 following 83 posts

We track federal spending & revenue for the benefit of all Americans 💸😅💸. Nominated for 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. We repost interesting stuff. 🕊

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · Apr 9

Tax Day is almost here! 🧾💸

In 2024, the average taxpayer in the U.S. paid:
$3,707 for weapons and war (628 dozen eggs) vs. just $39 for USAID, the agency that provides lifesaving food and medical help to millions (6 dozen eggs).

Receipt showing how much the average U.S taxpayer gave to militarism for their 2024 taxes. $3,708 for weapons and war is the total, followed by subtotal line items underneath: Pentagon is $2,929; Pentagon contractors is $1,420; Nuclear weapons is $150; Israeli military is $73; and SpaceX is $5.

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · 2h

NEW: If Trump's deportation force were a military, it would be the 13th largest in the world.

$170 billion in new funding for immigration enforcement and detention is translating to terror for our communities.

@sarahlazare.bsky.social @lindsaykosh.bsky.social for @inthesetimes.com:

The 13th Largest Army in World Is Unleashing Violence in Chicago

As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges.

inthesetimes.com

Reposted by National Priorities Project

The Costs of War Project @costsofwar.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: The post-10/7 wars have killed or injured at least 236,505 people in Gaza alone. The U.S. has spent over $31 billion and counting in the wider region since Oct. 7, 2023, where millions have been displaced, according to new Costs of War research. [THREAD]

Photo Credit: Heidi Levine, 2025

Photo by Heidi Levine (July 30, 2025) showing an aerial view of Gaza destruction, taken during a Royal Jordanian military flight for a humanitarian aid mission.

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 2d

As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges.

What we’re seeing is the 13th largest army in the world unleashing violence in Chicago, writes @sarahlazare.bsky.social and @lindsaykosh.bsky.social

inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

The 13th Largest Army in World Is Unleashing Violence in Chicago

As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

Maya Schenwar @mayaschenwar.bsky.social · 2d

“If the immigration enforcement apparatus of the United States were its own national military, it would be the 13th most heavily funded in the world.“

- @sarahlazare.bsky.social & Lindsay Koshgarian, @inthesetimes.com

inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

The 13th Largest Army in World Is Unleashing Violence in Chicago

As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 5d

NEW: Last week, Microsoft cut off services for the Israeli military after the Guardian exposed that they were being used for mass surveillance of Palestinians.

This historic win shows the joint power of good journalism and movement pressure.

@maximillianalvarez.bsky.social in @thenation.com:

How Microsoft Workers Helped Halt a Major Contract With the Israeli Military

A grassroots campaign successfully pressured the tech monopoly to take an unprecedented step toward suspending its complicity in the Gaza genocide.

www.thenation.com

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 2d

NEW: Last night, a Trump-nominated federal judge in Oregon ruled that the president can't deploy National Guard troops to Oregon. This is a win against authoritarianism — and we need more like it.

Jon Queally in @truthout.org:

Judge Blocks Trump From Sending National Guard Troops to Oregon — for Now

Gavin Newsom had challenged an order to send California troops, and warned that the US is on the “brink of martial law.”…

truthout.org

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 2d

NEW: The Trump administration is quietly working to starve the VA and instead fund a privatized network, the Veterans Community Care Program (VCCP).

For rural veterans, the private sector presents even greater barriers to care than those in the VA, research shows:

Privatizing the VA Will Be a Disaster for Rural Vets - OtherWords

Forcing millions of veterans out of the VA and into our crumbling rural hospitals will hurt both vets and their communities.

otherwords.org

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 2d

NEW: If the U.S. immigration enforcement apparatus were its own national military, it would be the 13th most heavily funded in the world. This bloated force is raining violence on Chicago.

@sarahlazare.bsky.social and @lindsaykosh.bsky.social of @nationalpriorities.bsky.social in @inthesetimes.com:

The 13th Largest Army in World Is Unleashing Violence in Chicago

As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

FCNL @fcnl.bsky.social · 5d

Speaking to @inkstickmedia.com, a military officer in California warned about the increasing “MAGA-fication” he's seeing inside the military.

As Trump deploys troops to more cities, he says he's worried that some of his fellow soldiers have “softened at the idea of abusing their fellow people.”

‘Let’s Go Bash Some Skulls’: Inside the Militarization of Trump’s America

As the Trump administration expands its push to militarize US cities, critics rail against the heavy-handed impact on marginalized groups.

inkstickmedia.com

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

Ilhan Omar @ilhanmn.bsky.social · 6d

It is outrageous that the United States spends more on its military than the next 9 countries combined.

Imagine if we stopped spending half of the nearly $1 trillion Pentagon budget and invested it in healthcare, education, and housing instead.

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · 6d

Reminder:

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 13d

This week in 1976, our IPS colleagues Orlando Letelier and Ronni Karpen Moffitt were killed by agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet as they drove to work.

We remember them and continue to uplift their mission of human rights for all in the face of repression. 🕊️

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · 14d

Fund communities, not war and climate collapse.

3 Ways Climate and the Pentagon are Connected

1) The U.S. military extracts and pollutes from people and land.

The Pentagon is the largest institutional polluter in the world.
The U.S. war machine holds toxic legacies in military bases and surrounding waters - including in Japan, Afghanistan, the Mariana Islands, and in the United States - which affect island nations and military families alike.
The Pentagon dumped chemicals in oceans after World War I and well into the 1970s. This resulted in a ban against chemical disposal into the oceans by 1972. However, the fight against “forever chemicals,” or PFAS contamination, endures to this day.

2) Military spending crowds out investments we need for climate.

In 2014-2024, the U.S. spent only $2 billion on climate finance, while handing $79 billion in aid to other countries to finance the purchase of U.S. weapons.
In 2025, the Pentagon budget is poised to reach $1 trillion. The Big Ugly Bill gave an additional $150 billion to the Pentagon and funded the mass deportation agenda by an unprecedented $170 billion. Recently, the Trump administration cancelled $29 billion in community environmental and energy grants.

3) War and environmental breakdown spur forced displacement, political instability and ecocide.
What is ecocide? The destruction of the environment by humans.
Estimates project 200 million to 1 billion people will migrate due to climate-related impacts by 2050.
The U.S. response to increased migration? Transforming borders into militarized zones, severely limiting people’s rights to move and stay.

Reposted by National Priorities Project

Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · 15d

The Defense Department is delaying its community cleanup of chemicals that are linked to cancers and other health risks.

The Pentagon has been one of the most intensive users of forever chemicals.

And now they're quietly postponing the cleanup.

Communities will suffer.

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · 15d

Maximum sign-on bonus for one person to join ICE: $50,000

17 children could receive life-saving healthcare for that amount of money.

Fund our children, not family separation.

Reposted by National Priorities Project

Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 15d

NEW: Behind the pledges, even governors of blue states are greenlighting Trump's fossil fuel agenda. This Climate Week in NYC, frontline communities from New Mexico, California, and Pennsylvania are demanding real climate leadership.

IPS New Mexico Fellow Feleecia Guillen in @commondreams.org:

Climate Week Is Here; Our Governors Are Still Siding with Polluters | Common Dreams

Frontline communities are exposing blue state governors that sell themselves as climate leaders while favoring polluters.

www.commondreams.org

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 16d

The ~2,100 troops in D.C. ALONE are costing taxpayers over $1 million/day.

Now, Trump has deployed an estimated 35,000 troops across the country.

No wonder “the aptly renamed Dept. of War refuses to disclose the costs of this illegal campaign," says IPS scholar @hannahomestead.bsky.social.

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 16d

NEW: Bills pushing to block arms transfers to Israel are steadily gaining support in Congress. None would be likely to pass (or override an expected presidential veto), but the reality now is the political tide has turned decisively against Israel.

Kevin Martin of @peaceaction.bsky.social:

It is Long Past Time to Block the Bombs to Israel - FPIF

The Trump administration has been accelerating transfers of bombs and guns to Israel with monolithic Republican, and far too much Democratic, support.

fpif.org

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 20d

NEW: The Trump admin has now deployed roughly 35,000 troops within the U.S. “It’s impossible to know exactly how much the rapidly expanding police state is costing taxpayers,” says IPS @nationalpriorities.bsky.social scholar @hannahomestead.bsky.social.

@nickturse.bsky.social in @theintercept.com:

Trump Troop Deployment in U.S. Climbs to 35,000 Boots on the Ground

A federal judge found the deployment to LA violated bedrock constitutional law, but Trump’s domestic military campaign continues.

theintercept.com

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · 20d

This September, as nations gather for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC, we mobilize for peace and climate justice!

Fund a livable planet for all. Join an action here:
drawtheline.world
climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction
makebillionairespay.us

Reposted by National Priorities Project

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 23d

Don't miss this big SCOOP from @shawnmusgrave.bsky.social

The Intercept @theintercept.com · 23d

After The Intercept exposed how immigration agents surveil wire transfers, Arizona AG Kris Mayes cut off some of their access.

Many ICE Agents Lose Ability to Spy on Immigrants’ Payments to Family Back Home

After The Intercept exposed how immigration agents surveil wire transfers, Arizona AG Kris Mayes cut off some of their access.

interc.pt

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National Priorities Project @nationalpriorities.bsky.social · 23d

We should invest in the well-being of our kids, rather than separating them from their families.

Reposted by National Priorities Project

Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 28d

NEW: Internal research by the National Guard shows that the public reaction to their D.C. deployment has been primarily negative.

“It does raise existential questions for the health of the National Guard... and how America uses the military writ large.”

National Guard documents show public ‘fear,’ troops’ ‘shame’ over D.C. presence

Internal documents reviewed by The Post reveal, with rare candor, how domestic missions rooted in politics risk damaging Americans’ trust in the military.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by National Priorities Project

Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 27d

In the 20 years following 9/11, the U.S. spent over $21 trillion on militarization.

Yesterday, the House passed an NDAA bringing us closer to a $1 trillion Pentagon budget.

For too long, hawks have used the tragedy of 9/11 to supercharge militarism at the cost of our needs and safety.

Enough.

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Institute for Policy Studies @ips-dc.org · 27d

We could:

- Decarbonize the U.S. electric grid ($4.5T)
- Create 5 million $15/hr jobs w/ benefits ($2.3T)
- Erase student debt ($1.7T)
AND
- Expand the Child Tax Credit for 10 years ($449B)

All for *far less* than the $21 trillion we spent on militarization since 9/11.

Invest in people. Not war.

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