Photo courtesy of Patrick Diehl

Note: This blog was updated on March 24, 2026 to reflect a more recent estimate that four million people are at risk of losing food assistance.

Pete Hegseth would rather the U.S. bomb Iranian families than feed American families. 

That's the upshot of news that Hegseth is prepared to request $200 billion in funding for the Pentagon's new war on Iran.

It should be clear: funding this unjust, unpopular and illegal war would come at the expense of ordinary Americans.

Less than a year after the passage of Trump's signature law that cut spending on healthcare and food stamps, and in the middle of an affordability crisis, this is the last thing the country needs. 

Half of Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities like food, housing, transportation and healthcare. Trump's Big Bad Bill threatens to take health insurance from 17 million people and food stamps from 4 million people.

The $200 billion that Hegseth now wants for his and Trump's Iran war could instead fund this year: 

• Medicaid for the 17 million people who will lose it due to budget cuts and other policies, AND
• Food stamps for the four million people at risk of losing some or all of their food assistance, AND
• Medical care for the 1.8 million veterans of the last forever war who still live with disabilities, AND
• Expanding Head Start to serve more than 4.2 million kids - making the program six times bigger.

This is a war of choice that is only making the world more dangerous and more expensive for Americans. 

We should remember the lies that led us into war in Iraq a generation ago. That war ultimately cost nearly $3 trillion. We must not go down that path again.

Our tax dollars should be helping struggling Americans, not feeding new forever wars.