This week, committees in the House advanced budget reconciliation proposals that pose grave threats to families and communities across the country.
“As Quakers, we are called to speak truth and to care for our neighbors. The budget reconciliation proposals are immoral, robbing poor people to give to the rich,” FCNL’s Bridget Moix explained in a statement Tuesday.
What to know:
Budget reconciliation bypasses the filibuster in the Senate. While this package is separate from the Presidential budget request we wrote about last week, it includes many similar, concerning goals.
This House reconciliation package would:
- Take health care and food assistance away from vulnerable families.
- Cut clean energy investments, eliminating jobs, raising electric bills, and further setting back climate action to protect our planet.
- Restrict access to the Child Tax Credit, further harming families struggling to get by.
At the same time, the legislation seeks to:
- Give more tax cuts to the wealthy.
- Surge funding to rip apart immigrant families and communities.
- Divert even more resources to weapons and war.
But people of faith and conscience are pushing back together.
This week, as lawmakers held a hearing on the package, FCNL’s Katherine Jones and other faith partners were present, carrying a message: Health care is sacred. Food is sacred. Human dignity is non-negotiable.
Their faithful advocacy was spotlighted in The New York Times. This is just one of many courageous, persistent actions people are taking in defense of our neighbors, our rights, and our democracy.
This work is difficult. But it is also joyful. While we sometimes may feel dejected and overwhelmed, we are not alone. And we are not powerless.
Join us and add your voice. Tell your lawmakers: Reject this immoral reconciliation bill!
Elsewhere
Gaza developments
Sen. Peter Welch (VT) introduced a powerful resolution with 29 cosponsors calling on the Trump administration to press Israel to immediately lift the blockade on Gaza. As he put it, “Children are starving to death… [we must] do all we can to bring this siege and this war to an immediate end.”
FCNL is a leading endorser of the resolution. Read more, including a quote from FCNL’s Hassan El-Tayyab, here.
Also this week, Hamas released Edan Alexander– the last known living American-Israeli hostage in Gaza. This is another important testament to the power of diplomacy! U.S. officials must build on this momentum to secure a full ceasefire, bring all the hostages home, and rush aid to Palestinians in desperate need in Gaza.
Building momentum for peacebuilding funding
FCNL helped build support for a letter from members of Congress urging committees to provide “full funding for critical peacebuilding programs” in the appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2026. The letter was led by Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-5) and Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and signed by 75 members – a significant increase from past efforts.
As FCNL’s Ursala Knudsen-Latta told Advocacy Teams, “The seeds of inspiration and knowledge on peacebuilding you helped plant in the 2023 campaign continue to grow, spreading to new offices and bearing fruit!”
Friends walking from Brooklyn to DC for migration justice
Friends are undertaking a 300-mile pilgrimage from New York to Washington, D.C. to advocate for migration justice. The AP described the journey as a part of the “long tradition of Quaker activism.” We are partnering with organizers as they meet with their representatives to tell Congress that mass deportation and detention are NOT the answer.
If you live in the D.C. area, join them on May 22 for an Interfaith March of Freedom.
Turn Your Values into Action and Double Your Gift!
Knowing how much our country needs FCNL’s effective lobbying for people, peace, and the planet, a group of FCNL donors has created a generous Matching Gift Challenge to inspire others to give. All gifts through June 30, 2025 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $308,847.
Will you please help us take advantage of this opportunity with your gift today?
