For Immediate Release:
April 3, 2026

Contact:
media@taxpayer.net

Washington, D.C. — In response to the release of the president’s budget request for FY2027, Taxpayers for Common Sense President Steve Ellis issued the following statement:

“The president’s budget request, while still incomplete, promises to set us on a perilous fiscal path—marked by exploding deficits, ballooning interest payments, and taxpayer waste. Budgets reflect priorities, and many of the priorities described in this request are fundamentally misaligned with the interests of taxpayers and put the nation on an unsustainable course.

“The president’s FY2027 request itself is over two months late, and Congress has yet to finalize FY2026 funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Instead of following regular order, policymakers are now considering funding major DHS components like ICE and CBP for years through budget reconciliation—underscoring just how far the budget process has veered off course. This budget request adds to the dysfunction by veiling $350 billion of its Pentagon request in yet another reconciliation bill.

“Since President Trump took office last year, the national debt has increased by $2.8 trillion, and taxpayers are now paying nearly $1 trillion annually just to service that debt. This budget request does nothing to improve the nation’s fiscal trajectory—in fact, it moves us further in the wrong direction.

“The president’s request for a $1.5 trillion Pentagon spending spree is a major driver of this dangerous fiscal trajectory. Congress should reject this massive increase—and any increase for the Pentagon, which already received an 18 percent boost this year. The administration is seeking much of this funding boost through reconciliation, which we know from recent experience means handing the Pentagon an unaccountable slush fund. By splitting its request into regular appropriations and reconciliation, the administration is hedging its bets and trying to make this cash grab look reasonable. Taxpayers aren’t fooled by a little bait and switch.

“Exploding the Pentagon budget will not make us safer. It will explode the debt. It will waste taxpayer dollars on programs that don’t work or that we simply don’t need. It will crowd out funding for other national security priorities that the Pentagon doesn’t address, like disaster mitigation and response, pandemic preparedness, food security, and reining in the debt. Amid an unauthorized war with Iran, with no clear strategy or long-term resolution in sight, Congress must use its power of the purse to reassert its war authority. Rejecting a looming request for reportedly $200 billion in supplemental war funding—and any increase for the Pentagon—is how to do it.

“Social Security and Medicare face looming insolvency and are currently major drivers of the debt, yet the budget fails to address this crisis. At the same time, the request relies on unrealistic cuts to popular programs and overly optimistic economic assumptions to mask mounting deficits.

“The administration cloaks this request in the language of fiscal responsibility, but the numbers—and the rhetoric—don’t hold up. Claims of nearly $2 trillion in ‘savings’ are little more than budgetary sleight of hand, masking the reality of rising deficits and growing debt. Selectively cutting programs while massively increasing spending elsewhere is not discipline—it’s a shell game that shifts costs, increases deficits, and leaves taxpayers on the hook.

“Budgeting for the nation’s future is one of the most basic functions of government, but the future this budget request envisions is one we simply cannot afford. Taxpayers are counting on Congress to step in and change course.”

Background:

Enacting this budget request would grow the Pentagon budget by roughly 50 percent in just one year. If Congress enacts this budget along with a proposed $200 billion Iran war supplemental, it will have effectively doubled the size of the Pentagon budget in just two years. If $1.5 trillion becomes the new baseline, this increase will add nearly $7 trillion to the debt over the next decade. Budgeting for the Pentagon through reconciliation also comes with real risks for taxpayers and national security—less oversight and accountability, more partisanship, and short-sighted spending.

Meanwhile, interest payments on the national debt have become one of the largest federal expenditures—surpassing spending on all domestic discretionary programs. Every dollar spent on interest or unnecessary weapons systems is a dollar unavailable for priorities like disaster resilience, infrastructure modernization, and deficit reduction.

TCS has long warned that unchecked deficit spending, combined with a lack of accountability in both defense and domestic programs, risks undermining the nation’s fiscal security. The president’s FY27 request underscores the urgent need for Congress to restore discipline, demand transparency, and protect taxpayers from wasteful and unsustainable spending increases.

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About Taxpayers for Common Sense:

Taxpayers for Common Sense is a nonpartisan budget watchdog committed to eliminating wasteful spending and promoting fiscal transparency and accountability.