Recent events in Ukraine arguably justify some seemingly excessive American defense spending. But it’s still frustrating that our Congress is so willing to buy weapons and so reluctant to invest in bettering the human condition. But beyond the  irritation I have with our priorities, I get pretty angry when money is spent on weapons that the White House didn’t request and does not want. And it’s a lot of money. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 includes $782 billion for the Pentagon–  $30 billion more than the Biden Administration requested.

This is just the unwanted spending on naval ships.

The new bill would provide almost $27 billion for Navy ship construction, about $4.1 billion more than was requested. All or part of nine vessels that the president did not ask for are included in the final bill, such as:

— $1.9 billion for an Arleigh Burke class destroyer and associated parts for another one.
— $590 million for two Expeditionary Fast Transport ships built in Mobile, Ala.
— $250 million for parts of an amphibious ship made in nearby Mississippi.
— $577 million for an Expeditionary Sea Base program.
— $776 million for a fleet oiler refueling ship.
— $235 million for three so-called ship-to-shore connectors.

Want some more egregious examples? The White House asked for nine new C-130J transport planes for the Air National Guard and Reserve fleets. Congress just spent $3.1 billion to buy twenty-nine of them. They just bought $900 million worth of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. The White House didn’t request any new funding for this program.

But this all part of a corrupt system and a weird employment program. It’s wasteful and inefficient, and I wish we could figure out a way to be more rational. I don’t want defense spending to crowd out everything else, but can’t we please at least stick to buying only what the executive branch says they need?