COP30 failed to meet our needs — but it brought thousands of representatives of the world's social movements together with united demands against militarism and imperialism. SUNDAY 12/21, IPS scholar Feleecia Guillen will join @codepink.bsky.social to share her experience there. Register:

In the 10 years since the Paris Agreement, the U.S. spent $79 billion financing foreign arms sales — money that could have been spent fighting the global climate crisis. It’s time we prioritized our future over endless war. @nationalpriorities.bsky.social @hannahomestead.bsky.social

Congress just passed a $1 TRILLION WAR BUDGET! Half of this cash will go to weapons corporations that profit off war. At the same time, the Pentagon has failed seven audits in a row. Our tax dollars should invest in food and healthcare. Not bombs and missiles.

Fund our planet and its people, not war and climate collapse.

"From ending the nursing shortage to insuring uninsured children, preventing evictions, and replacing lead pipes, every dollar the Pentagon wastes is a dollar that isn't helping Americans get by," says @ips-dc.org's @nationalpriorities.bsky.social.

"The last thing Congress should do is deliver $1 trillion into the hands of Secretary Pete Hegseth," says our own @lindsaykosh. Read our statement here in response to the annual military spending bill underway in Congress: www.nationalpriorities.org/blog/2025/12...

That $8 billion could instead keep those 2.4 million people from going hungry this coming year.

NEW: Congress passed a $900 billion Pentagon budget, pushing total military spending over $1 trillion. "Every dollar the Pentagon wastes," says Lindsay Koshgarian of @nationalpriorities.bsky.social, "is a dollar that isn’t helping Americans get by.” @brettwilkins.bsky.social in @commondreams.org:

The Trump administration's drone strikes in the Caribbean are "less of an aberration and more of a continuation and intensification of the War on Terror," notes our forthcoming contributor @elizabethrb.bsky.social in @inkstickmedia.com. inkstickmedia.com/the-war-on-t...

Congress plans to boost the Pentagon budget by $8 billion ABOVE the president's request. This would bring the Pentagon budget topline to over $900 billion. AND this comes on top of a $156 billion boost from Trump's Big Bad Bill. Fund food and healthcare, not war and weapons.

Amazon's computing services have long helped ICE track down people to deport. As Trump's mass deportations worsen, Amazon is investing another $50 BILLION in expanding its AI and cloud computing services for the administration. This holiday season, consider shopping elsewhere.

After rumors that Trump could be planning Oregon’s first ICE detention facility in Newport, hundreds of Oregonians turned out to voice unanimous opposition to the facility.

NEW: The Pentagon has built up 15,000(!) U.S. troops in the Caribbean since the summer. Newly uncovered military documents suggest they won’t be leaving anytime soon — and taxpayers will be footing the bill. @sambiddle.com and @nickturse.bsky.social in @theintercept.com:

NEW: Customs and Border Patrol reported that it was hosting at least 62% of its systems on Amazon servers as of 2023. In the face of Trump's deportation frenzy, Amazon is only doubling down on its support. Ab West of @athenaforall.bsky.social in @inequality.org:

This month, 57% of voters in Colorado approved a referendum raising taxes on the wealthy to fund school meals and food stamps. The Trump administration has rushed to cut food aid for those who need it — but regular people still want their neighbors fed.

During the shutdown, Senators couldn’t agree to extend subsidies for even one year to save millions of Americans from DOUBLED health care costs. Yet they did agree on a $32 BILLION increase for the Pentagon. This is representation for weapons companies, not for the people. Time to reprioritize.

This Thanksgiving is a reminder that people should be fed, families belong together, and the U.S. war machine isn’t keeping us safe.

We don’t need one more dime for war and weapons. We need affordable healthcare.

With immigrants accounting for nearly a third of long-term care workers, HALF of all nursing homes have stopped taking new residents. Trump's mass deportation campaign is hurting our immigrant communities, our elders, and our economy. Stop mass deportation now.

On a military base near Chicago, National Guard soldiers from Texas are more than a month into a deployment. While awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on deploying U.S. troops in U.S. cities, they have not yet left the base. Their deployment has still cost taxpayers $12.8 million.

Trump's reckless military deployments to five U.S. cities have cost taxpayers over $473 million. That's enough to restore full ACA health care subsidies for nearly half a million people(!) who are about to lose them thanks to GOP cuts. We don't need armed troops in our cities. We need health care.

Most Americans (61%) oppose major Medicaid cuts. Most Americans (62%) also disapprove of Trump’s family-separating immigration crackdown. Reminder that the Trump-GOP agenda of funding brutality at the cost of basic needs is not only immoral, it's widely unpopular.

COP30, the 30th United Nations global climate conference, is taking place right now and is halfway through! Here are three ways that show why we need to pay attention to the U.S. war machine's role in the climate crisis:

These deployments are federally funded, but transparency about their costs from the Trump administration has been lacking. Our @nationalpriorities.bsky.social team gives an expert estimate:

Our cities are not training grounds. Our people should have affordable healthcare.

Cost of Trump's military occupations of U.S. cities so far this year: Memphis: $3,493,800 Chicago: $12,810,600 Portland: $14,985,135 LA: $172,005,700 DC: $269,970,200 TOTAL: $473,265,435 and counting Every day Trump keeps troops deployed in our cities, it's costing us. Enough.

“It’s extremely concerning... that in less than six months since Trump first activated troops in LA, domestic military occupations are escalating — despite their dubious legality — and expenses are already approaching half a billion dollars,” said Hanna Homestead of @nationalpriorities.bsky.social

NEW: While the GOP strips health care and food aid from millions of Americans, Trump's military occupations of U.S. cities have cost taxpayers $473 million and counting, IPS @nationalpriorities.bsky.social researchers found. @nickturse.bsky.social in @theintercept.com:

The Trump administration claims it can't use $8 billion to fund SNAP in November. Simultaneously, it's pushing to use $156 BILLION for Department of War projects during the shutdown, including $24 billion for Trump’s absurd Golden Dome. This is policy violence.

Remember: The Trump-GOP budget bill that passed this summer gives $1 trillion for the Pentagon and $170 billion for mass deportations. Yet there's not enough money for healthcare or SNAP, so they say.

In 2006, a huge immigration raid in Marshalltown, Iowa tore the community apart and tanked the economy. Since then, immigrant residents have helped the town open new businesses, recover from a natural disaster, and thrive. We're stronger when everyone — immigrant or not — is free to pitch in.

MAGA priorities? Golden Dome over hungry families.

NEW: The military spending portion of the reconciliation bill, or H.R. 1 (“One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) will primarily benefit military contractors, according to a new joint brief with the @stimsoncenter.bsky.social. [THREAD]

🏥 NEW: If the Trump-GOP budget's increased spending on military and mass deportation in FY 2026 was instead used for Medicaid, here's how many more people could be insured per state: Kansas: 197,181 Maryland: 583,621 Illinois: 1,926,392 Florida: 3,559,007 Fund health care. Not militarism.

Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2022, including for Social Security and Medicare, even though they are barred from accessing those programs. They lie that immigrants don't pay fair taxes to distract from who actually doesn't: Billionaires.

During the government shutdown, some 750,000 federal workers have been on unpaid leave for weeks. Meanwhile, ICE has stayed fully operational — *except* for the staff who inspect detention centers to ensure they meet federal safety standards. These priorities are unacceptable.

Government shutdown for healthcare, blank check for war and weapons. It's time to shift priorities.

NEW: As of September 2025, there were over 59,000 people in immigration detention in the U.S. 71.5% of them had no criminal conviction. Get the new fact sheet on Trump's war on immigrants from IPS scholars @lindsaykosh.bsky.social, @karendolan.bsky.social, and @sarahanderson.bsky.social:

Despite little support among mainstream politicians or the media, the immigrant rights movement is making a huge impact in this dangerous time: Nearly 80% of Americans now say immigration is good for this country — a record high. IPS scholar Alliyah Lusuegro of @nationalpriorities.bsky.social:

NEW: In Chicago recently, federal agents have been breaking into apartments, detaining American citizens, and leaving people’s apartments and belongings trashed. Trump's war on "the enemy within" is a war on the American people. @petemontdc.com of @peoplefor.bsky.social:

✅ Over 60% of Americans disapprove of Trump's treatment of immigrants. ❌ The GOP budget is set to blow $170 BILLION on his mass deportation agenda. ✅ Over 80% of Americans want ACA health care tax credits renewed. ❌ The GOP budget intentionally let them end. Who does this represent?

NEW: Now that the International Court of Justice has found that countries are legally responsible for addressing climate change, Pacific Islanders are making one of their boldest moves yet to turn this ruling into action. "The world has a legal duty to respond.”

NEW: A staggering 1 in 5 children in the U.S. will have less to eat thanks to the GOP’s "Big Beautiful Bill." Now, to hide the damage, Trump is ending federal research on hunger. Our children deserve better. IPS Wallace Fellow Ta'Kyla Bates:

NEW: Nearly 80% of Americans now say immigration is good for this country — a record high. And the more immigrants tell their stories, the better people understand why they belong. otherwords.org/the-more-ame...

NEW: If Trump's deportation force were a military, it would be the 13th largest in the world. $170 billion in new funding for immigration enforcement and detention is translating to terror for our communities. @sarahlazare.bsky.social @lindsaykosh.bsky.social for @inthesetimes.com:

BREAKING: The post-10/7 wars have killed or injured at least 236,505 people in Gaza alone. The U.S. has spent over $31 billion and counting in the wider region since Oct. 7, 2023, where millions have been displaced, according to new Costs of War research. [THREAD] Photo Credit: Heidi Levine, 2025

As federal agents kill and use extreme force in Chicago, their budget surges. What we’re seeing is the 13th largest army in the world unleashing violence in Chicago, writes @sarahlazare.bsky.social and @lindsaykosh.bsky.social inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

“If the immigration enforcement apparatus of the United States were its own national military, it would be the 13th most heavily funded in the world.“ - @sarahlazare.bsky.social & Lindsay Koshgarian, @inthesetimes.com inthesetimes.com/article/ice-...

NEW: Last week, Microsoft cut off services for the Israeli military after the Guardian exposed that they were being used for mass surveillance of Palestinians. This historic win shows the joint power of good journalism and movement pressure. @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social in @thenation.com:

NEW: Last night, a Trump-nominated federal judge in Oregon ruled that the president can't deploy National Guard troops to Oregon. This is a win against authoritarianism — and we need more like it. Jon Queally in @truthout.org: