Every one of us will soon have our own story to tell about a hospital that closed or a loved one who died, fell sick, went hungry, or was forced onto the street to pay for Trump’s tax breaks for billionaires.
When Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the floor of Congress for his last speech before Republicans voted to pass deep cuts to health care, food, housing and education, it took him nine hours to read the flood of stories he’s received from ordinary people in every corner of the country who will be harmed by these cuts.
Soon there will be more stories of harm to tell, after president Trump signed these cuts into law. Every single one of us will be touched by his budget’s cruelty. Every one of us will have our own story to tell about a hospital that closed or a loved one who died, fell sick, went hungry, or was forced onto the street to pay for Trump’s tax breaks for billionaires.
The GOP budget takes $1.02 trillion away from Medicaid, the health program for children and poor families. It also cuts $490 billion from Medicare, the safety net for older Americans. An estimated 19 million Americans will lose health coverage, while many hospitals in rural areas will close.
The more than 42 million Americans who go hungry every day will get $186 billion less in food assistance. The budget will cut federal support for housing programs by 53 percent, at a time when homelessness is at a record high. More than 9 million more people could become homeless because of these cuts, with even more forced onto the streets as nursing homes shut down.
What’s most shocking about these cuts? Their cruelty. And who benefits? The ultra-wealthy, who get over a trillion dollars in permanent tax breaks. Indeed, the richest 10 percent get 80 percent of the benefits, while the poor lose money.
Republicans tell us over and over they want to be responsible with our money, yet their budget does the opposite. It increases our national debt by trillions and will shrink, not grow, our economy. More than a million jobs will be lost and states are now forced to pay for any savings the federal government claims. So we’ll all pay more, get less, and go deeper in debt.
The GOP lawmakers who voted for this package are not fools. They know tax cuts for billionaires are unpopular, and that programs like Medicaid and Medicare save lives. So they’ve built in provisions to delay some of the worst effects - such as the deep cuts to Medicare - until after the 2026 elections, and included a few shiny, temporary things, like eliminating taxes on tips, to distract us. But make no mistake: any benefits to working people will expire, while rewards to the wealthy become permanent.
The GOP’s plan is to soften the blow and distract us from the giant harm that awaits us all. Meanwhile they reward themselves at our expense, through the greatest transfer of wealth from working people to the rich in American history.
So what do we do now? We organize. In the months leading up to the budget vote, we hosted town halls all across the country and brought hundreds of constituents from states like Maine, North Carolina and Colorado to Capitol Hill to share their stories directly with lawmakers. Some listened, and a few changed their votes when faced with the crushing and undeniable evidence of how these cuts will deeply harm their constituents.
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We are not done, and this fight is far from over. In July, when Congressional committees start to decide how to implement these cuts, we will be there. Whenever representatives return to their home districts, we will be there too, all the way up to the November 2026 midterms and beyond. We will hold them to account, and we will not let anyone forget.
Our movement for social justice has now united in new and unprecedented ways to confront this moment of moral crisis. Since the launch of the Organizing Revival two years ago, People’s Action has been joined by more than twenty national organizations - including Popular Democracy, Faith in Action, Gamaliel, Right to the City Alliance, and the Just Power Alliance - in this effort to ground all of our members and grassroots community organizations in a shared strategy based on the most effective techniques of community organizing. Together, our organizations represent tens of millions of Americans and thousands of community groups in neighborhoods, cities and towns in every state.
On July 30, the 60th anniversary of Medicaid, many of these organizations will join People’s Action for a frank conversation about the budget, and what we can do together to meet this moment. I hope you will join us for that important conversation, and walk with us down the road ahead.
We are called to step up in this moment of crisis in our country. We are called to protect each other, and to act in unity with the courage that only love can give us. Join us.
