The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. June 17, 2022 People Over the Pentagon: Reps. Lee & Pocan Push for $100B Military Budget Cut ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Senate Armed Services Committee has endorsed an $847 billion military budget - that's $45 billion more than requested by President Biden. Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the chair of the committee, said some of the extra money is needed to replenish weapons sent to Ukraine. There is, however, a push in Congress by some progressives to shrink the Pentagon's budget. Earlier this week, Democratic Representatives Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan introduced the People Over Pentagon Act of 2022, which calls for cutting $100 billion from the military budget. In a statement, Lee said, "The amount of money the defense industry convinces Congress to spend each year doesn't protect us from real threats like climate change, pandemics, or cyber-attacks. It only lines contractors' pockets. Just imagine for once if we led the world in funding peace and not wars." .