Small government means not making laws which otherwise interfere in the citizens' ability to make their own choices about how to live. It doesn't have anything to do with the size of the military, whose missions are mostly abroad to protect trade routes anyway.

Because “small government” is code word for “only do what benefits me”. In the same way that “governmental waste” is code word for “spending money on things that doesn’t benefit me but somebody else”.

Because the usual people making "small government" arguments are insincere about them.

Personally, I'd be happy to massively decrease the size of the US military. What prevents that is that neither party wants to abandon the vast scope of uses that such a huge military lends itself to.

Prior to the Cold War the US maintained a minimal standing military during peace time. The military has steadily reduced its share of the budget from its 1950s peacetime peak via budget freezes, but active budget cuts mean base closures and lost jobs.

The Constitution gives the federal government a very short list of enumerated powers, and maintaining a military is one of them. Small government libertarians want the federal government to return to its traditional (pre-New Deal) Constitutional role.

The only institution that can field an army is the government - it's not something that happens organically or can be trusted to private companies.

Same with the State Department, FEMA, regulations, etc.

Having said that, neither Republicans or Democrats want small government. But the Biden administration is like a crack addict when it comes to deficits - they're destabilizing our currency.