No, America’s Money—and Legislative Focus—Aren’t Going Abroad

98% of spending, 89% of laws, and 84% of executive orders focus on domestic—not foreign—affairs

I just watched Senator Ted Cruz make a fool out of Tucker Carlson. Aside from Tucker’s descent into movie-villain levels of incoherence, delusion, and that weird Kamala Harris-style snarky laugh, a few things stood out. Namely, his persistent, tired refrain: that Congress and the executive branch are obsessed with foreign affairs—at the expense of America.

This narrative is everywhere now among the Woke Right, Tuckerites, Isolationists, or whatever label you want to slap on them. Their central claim? That America’s elected officials have forsaken the homeland, endlessly funding foreign escapades and wars while ignoring the needs of the American people.

It’s a seductive talking point. But it’s also completely false. So I did what any curious person would do: Ran the numbers.

Using the Deep Research functions of ChatGPT and Gemini, I reviewed all U.S. federal laws, executive orders, and budgetary spending from 2016 to 2024. What the AI’s found was not just a rebuttal to the narrative—it was a total annihilation of it.

Before diving in, please note that the exact number of public laws, executive orders, and federal spending figures can vary slightly between different sources due to how each categorizes, defines, or finalizes their counts. Despite these discrepancies, the overall picture painted is clear: these numbers appear generally accurate and provide a reliable understanding of legislative, executive, and financial activity.

In short: while the exact figures may vary slightly by source, the takeaway is likely clear and reliable.

Now having said all that, let’s break it all down—starting with what Congress and the White House have actually been doing.

Legislative Reality Check

From 2016 through 2024, Congress enacted 1,751 public laws, and U.S. presidents issued 393 executive orders. Here's the breakdown of a representative sample of public laws categorized by Gemini into foreign-related, domestic-related, and mixed:

Public Laws (Based on Gemini-Categorized Samples)

Source: Gemini research document analysis (partial datasets across congresses)

Average foreign-related share of legislation across all sampled years: ~9.4% (Gemini). ChatGPT’s independent estimate based on full data was ~7.9%, aligning closely with Gemini’s sample-based analysis.

Executive Orders (2016–2024, via ChatGPT)

Of the 393 executive orders issued between 2016 and 2024, roughly 84% focused on domestic policy—immigration, deregulation, pandemic recovery, labor, and climate. Just 11.4% were foreign-related, and 4.3% were mixed-use.

Executive orders under Trump and Biden were used primarily for domestic agendas—immigration, deregulation, pandemic recovery, labor, and climate policy.

Show Me the Money: Budget Breakdown

Between 2016 and 2024, the U.S. government spent $48.9 trillion. Here’s how that broke down:

Source: ChatGPT research using OMB, CBO, and Treasury datasets

Foreign-related spending includes:

• State Dept. & USAID

• Foreign military and security aid

• Global health and humanitarian efforts

• Treasury contributions to international organizations

• Overseas military operations

Even during peak engagement years like 2022–2023, foreign outlays never exceeded 3% of the total budget (ChatGPT). In 2024, they fell below 1% (Gemini).

Meanwhile:

• Social Security alone topped $1.3 trillion/year (more than 25× the entire foreign budget) (ChatGPT)

• Veterans’ benefits exceeded all foreign spending (ChatGPT)

• Interest on the national debt dwarfed international outlays more than 10 to 1 (ChatGPT)

Final Takeaway

So Why the False Narrative?

The Tuckerite-Isolationist claim—that the U.S. government has abandoned its citizens to fight foreign wars—is not just misleading. It’s complete nonsense.

Across three presidencies, nine fiscal years, and hundreds of policy actions:

• U.S. laws were nearly 90% domestic (Gemini)

• U.S. presidential orders were over 80% domestic (ChatGPT)

• U.S. spending was 98% domestic (ChatGPT)

This is not a war machine. This is a domestic policy machine—with a foreign affairs appendix.

If America is an empire, it’s one that spends nearly all its energy and money at home. And that’s a good thing.

Facts beat vibes. Every time.