Editor’s Note: The following was sent to U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, along with U.S. House Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks on Aug. 18, 2026.

Dear Senator Grassley,

I’m writing to ask you to reduce defense spending as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is debated by the Congress during the coming weeks. I hope my thinking is both direct and worthy of your consideration.

Not only has the proposed NDAA increased military spending over the previous year, the increase amount is mind-boggling. Do we really need to spend this much extra money to prepare for a conventional war with China? That is one of the debates in which I expect federal elected officials will engage in Washington.

The NDAA is passed every year to set the budget, goals, and rules for the Department of Defense and military programs. The change from FY2026 to the FY2027 proposals is unusually large, increasing from $890.6 billion to $1.14 trillion or about $250 billion (28 percent). That’s not all. Another $350 billion is planned by the administration to come from budget reconciliation as mandatory defense spending, bringing the total to $1.5 trillion.

It is a bit difficult to decipher how all this money will be spent, yet what I can glean is the administration believes the world is moving into a period of potential conflict between great powers. The U.S. military must be able to fight a technologically sophisticated opponent — mainly China—and must rebuild the industrial capacity to sustain a large conventional war. The largest increases come from procurement, research and development, construction and infrastructure to hold China and other potential adversaries at bay, to the tune of $250 billion extra dollars.

I’m calling this malarkey.

First, the idea of building toward a conventional war is nonsense. Look at how Ukraine held Russia — one of the most sophisticated conventional military forces — at bay. Warfare has changed, and Ukraine is showing us the way.

Second, it is no secret, China wants Taiwan. The standoff between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea has been ongoing for decades. Thus far, the U.S. has made the penalty to China greater than its desire to annex Taiwan. Shouldn’t we expect that to continue without a military buildup?

Third, our military demonstrated during the Iran war it is possible to deplete our munitions without being able to timely replace them. Information on stock levels is classified, yet the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that the Iran campaign substantially depleted inventories of Patriot, THAAD and other air-defense interceptors, as well as long-range offensive missiles.

Now is not the time to build military infrastructure and our budget should reflect that. I hope and expect you to contribute to a much lower NDAA this Congress.

Thank you for your consideration and for representing us in the U.S. Senate.

Regards, Paul