Senate passes $895 billion Pentagon bill
Polygraph | Newsletter n°284 | 20 Dec 2024
ICYMI—new VIP newsletter: stephensemler.com/p/votes-on-military-spending-vs-arms
Situation
This week, the Senate passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), sending the military policy bill to Biden’s desk for final approval. Here was my statement on the bill, via Center for International Policy:
^ https://x.com/CIPolicy/status/1869552612628123879 ; https://bsky.app/profile/cipolicy.bsky.social/post/3ldmpdiuwqs2l
Votes on military spending vs. military contractor cash
The Senate voted to authorize $895 billion for the Pentagon, 85-14. Based on past budgets, the Pentagon will commit more than half that amount to military contractors. The 85 senators who voted for the NDAA accepted on average $280,106 in political contributions from military contractors this election cycle. The 14 senators who voted against the bill received $58,170 on average. The median amounts for each bloc were $234,605 and $45,240, respectively.
^Alt text for screen readers: Senators who voted to increase military spending took five times more cash from military contractors. This column chart compares the average amount of money received from arms industry donors this election between the senators who voted yes on the 2025 NDAA (280.1 thousand dollars) and those who voted no (58.2 thousand dollars). Votes: H.R. 5009 (18 December 2024). Donations: OpenSecrets (2019-24).
Paid subscribers can access an interactive table that shows senators’ votes and how much money each one received from military contractors this election cycle. A preview of the table is below. In the interactive version you can sort by name, party, arms industry cash received, and vote position on the aforementioned NDAA. Vote positions are coded by color: pink means the senator supported the $895 billion Pentagon bill; green means they opposed it. As the preview suggests, if you sort by cash taken from military contractors, you have to scroll down a bit (a lot) before you see any green.
^Source: stephensemler.com/p/votes-on-military-spending-vs-arms
To give you an idea about what the people at the top are like: Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Senate recipient of military contractor cash, is calling for the US to spend 5% of its GDP on the Pentagon (so about $1.4–1.5 trillion). He also insists that price gouging by military contractors — which is rampant — isn’t the key to cutting waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds. Wicker says the real issues are bureaucracy, restrictions and oversight, and that the Pentagon “orders at low production volumes.” This is highly unlikely on a per-unit level (because of the past performance of, and rampant price gouging by, military contractors) and impossible on a broader level — you can’t increase the budget and claim you’re spending less, but that’s what Wicker’s doing. Must be fun being that shamelessly corrupt.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Abe B., Alan F., Andrew R., AT., BartB., BeepBoop, Bill S., Bob N., Brett S. Byron D., Chris, Chris G., Cole H., D. Kepler, David J., David S.,* David V.,* Elizabeth R., Errol S., Foundart, Francis M., Frank R., Gary W., Graham P., Griffin R., Hunter S., Irene B., Isaac, James H., James N., Jcowens, Jennifer, Jerry S., Joe R., John, John A., John K., John M., Jonathan S., Joseph B., Kheng L., Lea S., Leila CL., Linda B., Linda H., Lindsay, Lindsay S.,* Lora L., Mapraputa, Marie R., Mark L., Matthew H.,* Megan., Michael S., Mitchell P., Nick B., Norbert H., Omar D.,* Peter M., Phil, Philip L., Rosemary K., Silversurfer, Springseep, Teddie G., Theresa A., Themadking, Tim C., Timbuk T., Tony L., Tony T., Victor S., William P.
* = founding member