1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose any National Defense Authorization Act or appropriations package that includes a $200 billion-plus increase in defense spending while Congress continues to cut and restrict basic social supports. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that H.R. 8800 would authorize roughly $1.1 trillion for fiscal year 2027, including about $252 billion more for defense than was appropriated in 2026. That increase is unacceptable at a time when Medicaid, SNAP, housing support, school meals, education, and mental health services are being cut, restricted, or forced through more paperwork and eligibility barriers. This is not about whether national defense matters. It does. But Congress cannot keep claiming that basic human needs are unaffordable while approving massive increases for weapons systems, military expansion, and defense contractors. A budget that finds unquestioned money for bombs but not enough money for food, health care, housing, and children is a statement of priorities. These choices fall hardest on people with the least political power: low-income families, disabled people, children, older adults, rural communities, people with mental illness, and people who are uninsured or underinsured. These are not abstract line items. They are meals, prescriptions, clinic visits, rent payments, and basic stability. I ask you to vote against any defense package with this level of increase unless Congress also restores and protects funding for Medicaid, SNAP, housing, education, school meals, and mental health care. At minimum, I ask you to publicly oppose the $200 billion-plus defense increase and explain why Congress can always find money for military spending but demands cuts and work requirements from people trying to survive. Please represent a budget that protects people, not just weapons programs.