according to this article more than 2/3 of the federal budget is a military expenditure. officially, only 19% of the total federal budget is allocated for the department of defense, but many military budget items are hidden in other lines of the federal budget (as an example the article notes that nuclear weapon systems are budgeted under the department of energy).
if the article's calculations are correct, that means that only about 28% of all military spending in this country is "defense spending" i.e. spending directed to the department of defense. given how this country has been using its military power lately, 28% of it for defense sounds about right.
(via paul from explananda)
