1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

CALL ME CRAZY BUT I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD SPEND 92 MILLION DOLLARS ON A MILITARY PARADE HONORING A DRAFT DODGER WHILE A SINGLE VETERAN NEEDS HEALTHCARE, FOOD, OR HOUSING THAT THEY CAN'T AFFORD. Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) has introduced the HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act-officially, the “Halting All Parades for Presidents’ Yearly Birthdays; It Risks Taxpayer Harm, Damages, And Your Budget Act.” The bill is a direct response to Donald Trump’s push for a massive Pentagon-to-White House military parade on his 79th birthday, June 14, a spectacle that would cost taxpayers tens of millions and serve no public purpose. Let’s be clear: The United States does not throw military parades for presidential birthdays. These displays are reserved for national commemorations or honoring military service—not for stroking a president’s ego. Even the Army, which marks its own 250th birthday this year (also June 14), has never staged a parade for itself until now, and only after Trump’s lobbying. Trump’s parade would mobilize 6,600 soldiers, 150 vehicles, and 50 helicopters, clogging DC streets and risking millions in damage to infrastructure never meant for tanks and heavy armor. All this while Trump’s administration slashes federal programs, axes jobs, and tries to gut Medicaid-yet he wants taxpayers to bankroll his personal vanity project. As Rep. Cohen put it: “Donald Trump may imagine himself an all-powerful ruler, but he is a president, not a potentate. The American people don’t pay tribute to him as if he were a king-least of all by wasting taxpayer dollars to burnish his insatiable ego. This bill ensures no president, now or in the future, can make the public pay for his birthday entertainment or pride”. The HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act would ban taxpayer-funded presidential birthday parades, period. If Trump wants to celebrate, he can do it like everyone else-with cake, a round of golf, or bingo, not a taxpayer-funded military circus. Congress should pass this bill and send a clear message: America doesn’t pay tribute to tyrants or bankroll birthday parades for presidents-now or ever. Support the HAPPY BIRTHDAY Budget Act. Tell Congress: No more taxpayer-funded ego trips.