The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is shocked and disappointed by President Trump’s Skinny Discretionary Budget request, which totals $1.691 trillion in discretionary spending. The President’s request, which is a modified version of a traditional presidential budget request, would fundamentally eliminate federal government efforts to alleviate suffering and ensure prosperity, wellbeing, and safety for millions of people.
The president’s FY26 budget proposes massive cuts to treaty obligations to Native communities, support to environmental resilience, violence prevention, and migration assistance, while continuing to untenably increase spending on weapons and war.
“As people of faith, we are called to love our neighbors and help those in need. But this budget takes from vulnerable people to fund tax cuts for the rich, the separation of families, imprisonment of immigrant children, and the continued militarization of our world,” said Bridget Moix, FCNL general secretary.
“The federal budget is a moral document that outlines our priorities as a nation. However, this budget blueprint is morally bankrupt and will cause significant harm to communities and threaten lives around the world. FCNL strongly urges Congress reject it.”
“This budget blueprint is morally bankrupt and will cause significant harm to communities and threaten lives around the world.”
The president’s FY26 budget request cuts funding to Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs, which support the safety and security of communities. CVI programs, such as violence interrupters, offer evidence-based solutions that save lives and millions of dollars for local and state governments.
It also heavily cuts funding for tribal justice and education. This would create an existential threat to Native communities, especially in rural reservations which rely on the federal government to meet its treaty and trust responsibilities.
At a time when the United States faces an affordable housing crisis, this proposed budget cuts rental assistance by $27 billion. It also makes deep cuts and institutes harsh restrictions on other housing assistance programs.
The budget eliminates LIHEAP, which aids low-income households in heating and cooling their homes.
It eliminates the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), the Community Services Block Grant, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), — all of which provide vital services to vulnerable individuals and communities.
The president’s proposed FY 26 budget continues its assault on the rights and safety of the U.S. public, including asylum seekers, refugees, unaccompanied children, and undocumented immigrants. Immigrant communities are the bedrock of American prosperity and are intrinsic to it history and identity.
The budget proposes cutting the Department of State by 84%. It would shrink U.S. investment in diplomacy and foreign assistance to $21.6 billion – the lowest level since World War II. The diplomacy and foreign aid budget is less than the $23.6 billion consumers spend on Easter annually. Such a drastic reduction would be a catastrophic ethical and strategic failure for the country.
Foreign aid cuts would also include the zeroing out of international climate finance which would be morally indefensible and strategically short-sighted. It would abandon vulnerable communities least responsible for increasingly frequent extreme weather disasters.
The proposed budget would also end violence and genocide prevention and peacebuilding efforts globally. As the world becomes a more violent and less stable place, peacebuilding efforts are sound investments. Research has shown that every dollar invested in preventing violent conflict saves $26-$103 in the cost of conflict.
In addition to these extreme cuts, the president’s budget request recommends spending a record $1 trillion on weapons and war or 59 percent of the request. This would amount to a 13% increase to Pentagon spending while cutting nondefense discretionary spending by 23%. This morally bankrupt choice prioritizes militarism over the basic well-being of people.
Peace cannot be achieved through the preparations for war and violence. Peace for one community need not come at the price of fear and suffering for another.
FCNL commits to advocating against these drastic cuts proposed in the President’s FY 26 Budget Request. It calls on all people of faith and conscience to do the same.
