Military & Defense — Strength With Restraint

The United States spends $997 billion on defense annually — 37% of all military spending on Earth, more than the next nine countries combined. That titanic budget encounters a foundational crisis: the Pentagon has failed its financial audit eight consecutive years and cannot account for $4.65 trillion in assets. The department pays $178 million per year for a failing audit result.

Contractor capture drives dysfunction. 54% of the Pentagon's discretionary budget flows to private contractors. The top five contractors alone collected $771 billion over five years (2020–2024). A 7,943% markup on C-17 soap dispensers. $1.7 billion paid to Lockheed Martin for F-35 incentives despite the aircraft flying only 50% of the time. The Sentinel ICBM hitting $141 billion with $6 billion in cost overruns.

The 'use it or lose it' spending culture creates artificial urgency over disciplined procurement. In September 2025 alone, the Pentagon spent $93.4 billion on contracts in a single month — including $50.1 billion in the final five working days. That is not military necessity. It is waste rewarded by the budget architecture.

The revolving door operates at scale. 2,700+ defense sector revolving-door lobbyists since 2001, with 645 documented instances in a single year of top contractors hiring former senior government officials, military officers, or members of Congress. Nearly 90% became registered lobbyists. Meanwhile Congress protects failed programs for votes: the F-35 is 93% over original per-aircraft estimates but untouchable because Lockheed Martin builds it across 45 states.

For troops and military readiness, a restructured military is stronger, not weaker. The munitions surge addresses the crisis where 850+ Tomahawks per month were fired in real combat while only 34 were produced in all of 2024. Submarine base expansion to 2.0 Virginia-class boats per year (from 1.13) directly supports Indo-Pacific deterrence. Mass drone production at $10B+/year reflects actual 21st-century warfare, not Cold War assumptions.

For veterans, every dollar not reinvested in capability flows to VA care and suicide prevention. Full PACT Act funding covers toxic exposure from burn pits, Agent Orange, and radiation. Same-day mental health access. A functional zero target for veteran homelessness (already down from 76,000 in 2010 to 32,882 today). Under the universal healthcare plan from Issue 1, veterans gain seamless access to the entire system.

For taxpayers, a $997 billion budget that cannot verify $4.65 trillion in assets gets no blank check. The 15–20% restructuring generates $81–161B in annual savings, with $20–100B net after reinvestment. 'Use it or lose it' ends with 5% carryover reform, recovering $10–15B/year. Contractor markups cap through competitive bidding and performance-based contracting — saving $15–25B/year.

For strategic readiness, the Indo-Pacific deterrence strategy depends on submarine depth, distributed lethality, and munitions availability — not floating targets the size of cities. Taiwan's arms backlog clears. NATO's 2025 achievement of 100% allies at 2% GDP creates the burden-sharing conditions for responsible US restructuring without weakening collective defense.