“Golden Dome is the epitome of taxpayer waste — expensive, unviable, and strategically counterproductive. From the beginning, the president has sold Golden Dome to taxpayers as an impenetrable shield against all missile threats. But the budget request explicitly contradicts this vision, because it’s a fantasy. It admits what we’ve known all along — that no missile defense system can reliably protect the United States from nuclear weapons. Less-than-perfect defenses against shorter range, conventional missiles have shown some utility, though the Iran War has underscored their limits when facing a sustained barrage. But when it comes to nuclear weapons, even one missile getting through would be catastrophic, and chances are many would get through in the event of a nuclear war,” Gabe Murphy, a policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, told Federal News Network.

“A leaky Golden Dome would defend the U.S. against nuclear weapons about as well as buying everyone in America a bullet proof vest—and it would cost a lot more,” he added.