“Imagine if our government funded our communities like they fund war.”

That was Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-Mich.) response to the House’s bipartisan passage Wednesday of legislation that authorizes nearly $901 billion in military spending for the coming fiscal year, as tens of millions of Americans face soaring health insurance premiums and struggle to afford basic necessities amid the nation’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.

Tlaib, who voted against the military policy bill, had harsh words for her colleagues who “drool at the opportunity to fund war and genocide, but when it comes to universal healthcare, affordable housing, and food assistance, they suddenly argue that we simply can’t afford it.”

“Congress just authorized nearly a trillion dollars for death and destruction but cut a trillion dollars from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act,” said Tlaib, referring to the budget reconciliation package that Republicans and President Donald Trump enacted over the summer.

“They’re gutting healthcare and food assistance to pay for bombs and weapons. It’s a sick vicious cycle,” Tlaib continued. “Another record-breaking military budget is impossible to justify when Americans are sleeping on the streets, unable to afford groceries to feed their children, and racking up massive amounts of medical debt just for getting sick.”

House passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) came as Republicans in both chambers of Congress pushed healthcare proposals that would not extend enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits that are set to expire at the end of the year, resulting in massive premium hikes for millions.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that a Senate Democratic plan to extend the ACA subsidies for three years would cost around $85 billion—a fraction of the military spending that House lawmakers just authorized.

The NDAA, which is expected to clear the Senate next week, approves $8 billion more in military spending than the Trump White House asked for in its annual budget request.

According to the National Priorities Project, that $8 billion “would be more than enough” to restore federal nutrition assistance to the millions expected to lose it due to expanded work requirements included in the Trump-GOP budget law.

“Our priorities are disgustingly misplaced,” Tlaib said Wednesday.

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