Overview
- Cohen used a chainsaw on a replica of the Pentagon outside the U.S. Capitol to call attention to what he describes as waste in military spending.
- He promoted the Up In Arms campaign’s Department of Pentagon Excess, which advocates a roughly 30% reduction, about $303 billion a year, with claimed savings of about $2,000 per taxpayer.
- The event featured retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson and former Army intelligence analyst Josephine Guilbeau and included props like fake cash to symbolize alleged waste.
- The protest coincided with a broader funding fight that includes the Trump administration’s push for the first-ever $1 trillion defense budget, a roughly 13% increase for FY2026, and the risk of a shutdown.
- Pentagon officials pointed to a small Department of Government Efficiency team that they say has cut about $15 billion in contracts since February, while right-leaning outlets criticized Cohen’s tactic as extreme.