—Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, Catholic Standard interview, 09 March 2026

Fund basic human needs, not a war in Iran

The U.S. Constitution gives exclusive power to Congress to declare war to prevent a commander-in-chief from unilaterally imposing the costs of armed conflict on this country’s people. Congress has not declared war on Iran. In the wake of the Trump administration’s unauthorized attacks on Iran costing $1 billion per day so far, they are now floating the idea of seeking an additional $50 billion to fund these military actions. With the Pentagon budget already totaling more than a trillion dollars, the president should be denied this outrageous request and the commensurate, implied approval of his actions.

The Pentagon budget topped the $1 trillion mark in last July’s tax and budget reconciliation bill when it received $150 billion more than it already had in its budget. At the same time, Congress cut programs that provide for those most vulnerable to financial instability. Last year’s military budget boost was insult enough, but granting this new $50 billion request would add profound insult. If the nation has that amount of money to spend, it would be better used to restore nutrition assistance for 4 million people, pay for universal pre-K education, and pay to build over 100,000 housing units annually.

Please use the draft email in the grey box at right (below on mobile devices) to urge your members of Congress to vote against any additional funding for the Pentagon, especially if it’s earmarked for the Iran war. Ask them instead to restore basic human needs that would easily be covered by the amount under consideration.