Update

During his first administration, President Trump rarely spoke about nuclear weapons, claiming he deliberately avoided the topic due to the gravity of the issue.

Faith communities around the country have used IRA tax credits to install clean energy projects or increase their building’s energy efficiency. Notably, the IRA allows for certain tax-exempt entities like houses of worship to receive rebates, or “direct pay,” for clean energy investments.” This provision has allowed Meetings in our own Quaker network to save money and redirect these resources to serve their communities, both materially and spiritually.

Last Friday, February 21 Senate Republicans passed a $340 billion budget framework, allocating substantial funds to military spending and border security, despite unanimous Democratic opposition. This framework includes up to $150 billion for the Pentagon and $175 billion to fund President Trump’s agenda for mass immigration detention and deportation over four years.  

The current administration is operating at a whirlwind pace and sowing chaos as it goes. FCNL strives to operate at the speed of Light in our advocacy for peace, justice, and the environment.  

Friends may find peace in the steadiness of our work in this time of challenge and confusion. Here are three examples of how we are keeping the work going in this new era: 

• Through presidential administrations, the Friends Committee on National Legislation has our vision statement as our guiding principles: 
   

Just a few weeks into the second Trump administration, chaos and confusion are running rampant in Washington, DC. Mass deportations and civil service layoffs are rolled out daily. Federal funding freezes are coupled with illegal moves to destroy government agencies and rewrite constitutional powers.

Since the start of the 119th Congress and President Trump’s inauguration, D.C. lawmakers have focused on executing cruel immigration policies opposed to the stated ideals of this nation and our values as people of faith.  

Here are four key elements of the Trump administration’s policies:

The Trump administration’s recent actions to freeze almost all U.S. foreign assistance has put at risk millions of the world’s most vulnerable people who rely on these programs for their healthcare, livelihoods, and other basic needs. 

Hundreds of people joined us for a call on January 28 to learn how to effectively engage the new Congress. As we hold in the Light people who have been harmed by actions taken in the first week of the Trump administration, FCNL is mobilizing to respond. Your advocacy will be critical throughout the new Congress and the Trump administration. Deepen your engagement now! 

If you were unable to attend or want to revisit our conversation, you can watch and share the recording:

Washington, DC, and the whole country are gearing up for President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20.  How do we navigate this new political era as Friends? 

Around the FCNL office on Capitol Hill, proliferating security fencing makes even a short walk more difficult. This week, as I stepped through one of the gates in the fencing that was left open, for the time being, I realized I could feel a kind of fence growing inside me as well.

2025 is a special year for FCNL’s Advocacy Teams as we celebrate our 10th anniversary. Over the past decade, FCNL has grown its Advocacy Teams network to 135 teams across 48 states and D.C. Each year, Advocacy Teams work on one foreign policy issue and, this year for the first time, a domestic issue as well. In 2025, Advocacy Teams will advocate under the theme, Aid, Not Arms: Opening the Way to Peace in the Middle East.