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(RNS) \u2014 On April 14, the day before Tax Day, hundreds of people from across the country gathered on Capitol Hill in diverse, intergenerational delegations to meet with their members of Congress. Their message was clear: not one penny more for war on Iran. They came to Washington, D.C., for the first annual Friends Changemaker Weekend, organized by the Friends Committee on National Legislation and the FCNL Education Fund.<\/p>\n
Representing a wide range of faiths, backgrounds and life experiences, they urged lawmakers to choose peace at a critical time for our country and world. In doing so, they reflected both the persistent power of our democracy and growing dissent over the use of our taxpayer dollars by the White House and Congress \u2014 especially in matters of war and peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lobbying against runaway military spending is not new to FCNL and Quakers. For more than 80 years, we have worked to shift federal funding away from war and toward people, peace and planet. We have seen important progress \u2014 from defunding outdated weapons systems to increasing investments in peacebuilding and human needs. But these gains are overshadowed by our government\u2019s massive investments in weapons and war, which have only ballooned year over year. The Pentagon budget has now surpassed $1 trillion, and President Trump is calling for even more: at least $1.2 trillion for the Pentagon, with a request for an additional $100 billion in supplemental war funding under consideration.<\/p>\n
To be clear, military excess is not making us \u2014 or the world \u2014 safer. Lawmakers\u2019 choices to pour resources into weapons and warfare at a time of urgent human need is nonsensical. When it comes to throwing money at the Department of War, the old adage holds: You get what you pay for.<\/p>\n
As funding for war grows, so too does the violence it enables. The United States has launched military action against at least eight countries since President Trump took office, while militarizing our own streets through National Guard deployments and a cruel mass deportation campaign against our immigrant neighbors. The more the White House and Congress invest in waging wars and ramping up ICE operations, the more our communities \u2014 at home and abroad \u2014 bear the cost.<\/p>\n
Even more disturbing, the administration\u2019s relentless push for more spending on war comes alongside drastic cuts to the very government programs that sustain life and safety. The White House budget request once again targets vital supports: funding for nutrition assistance for babies and new moms, community violence interruption to prevent gun deaths, climate resilience, global migrant and refugee aid, and peacebuilding efforts that prevent atrocities and help societies rebuild social cohesion after war in places like Sudan, Ukraine and the Middle East. And this is on top of last year\u2019s historic cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
These are not abstract line items. They are lifelines. Yet, at every turn, the message from lawmakers is the same: more for war, less for the conditions that make peace possible.<\/p>\n
The good news is that many people around the country, and a growing number of Congress members, are saying enough is enough. The costs of reckless warmaking at home and abroad are simply too high. Too high at the gas pump and grocery store, too high for our communities and loved ones who are impacted and too high for the thousands of innocent people who are being killed, displaced and deported. This budget is not only immoral; it is irresponsible for everyone involved.<\/p>\n
Dissent \u2014 in Congress and across the country \u2014 is growing, as evidenced by legislators who resort to budgetary gymnastics to avoid accountability. The longest partial government shutdown in history followed the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as lawmakers clashed over funding ICE and Customs and Border Patrol without clear guardrails for deportation operations. Now, Republican leadership is planning a reconciliation budget bill that can pass with a simple majority to fund ICE and CBP for the next few years \u2014 again without meaningful oversight.<\/p>\n
Still, cracks are showing. Divisions are emerging among Republicans\u2019 own party over escalating war with Iran and skyrocketing Pentagon spending, while many Democrats are speaking out against the administration\u2019s budget plan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Could this be a turning point for Congress to rethink how it spends our\u00a0taxpayer\u00a0dollars and finally put people over the Pentagon?<\/p>\n
It can be if we make it so. The truth remains: You get what you pay for. If you fund fear and force, you get devastation. But by investing in programs that make our communities and world safe, healthy and resilient, Congress can help turn the tide from escalating war to enduring peace. And unlike unchecked Pentagon spending, these investments are not only more just \u2014 they are proven to be both effective and affordable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has wreaked havoc on the American and global economies, slashed vital programs at home and abroad and wasted hard-earned American tax dollars on cruel, militarized campaigns that make our communities and our world less safe. It\u2019s time for Congress to reclaim its constitutional power of the purse and answer the growing public call: Enough is enough. Not one penny more for war, at home or abroad. It\u2019s time to invest in people, peace and planet.<\/p>\n
I saw that call come to life during Friends Changemaker Weekend. During some of the lobby visits I joined, advocates from across generations and geographies shared why funding peace, not war, matters to them. Their stories reflected a growing movement of people of conscience around the country standing up for a more just, peaceful and resilient world \u2014 reminding us that another path is not only possible, but is already being built.<\/p>\n
(Bridget Moix is the general secretary of the\u00a0<\/em>Friends Committee on National Legislation<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and leads two other Quaker organizations,\u00a0<\/em>Friends Place on Capitol Hill<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/em>FCNL Education Fund<\/em><\/a>. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)<\/em><\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n