For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me … Amen I say to you, “Whatever you did for one of these least of my people, you did for me.” – Matthew 25: 35, 40
We, the members and friends of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, condemn the devastating budget that Donald Trump seeks to inflict on the hungry, the thirsty, and the strangers, as well as on our poor and our elderly, our children, the disabled, ordinary working men and women, and on anyone who does not fall within the millionaire class for which the budget is tailored.
We call on all Catholics, all Christians, all Jews and Muslims, all people of faith, and all people of good will to speak out against the devastation this budget creates. We speak from our own Catholic understanding of the gifts and graces God has bestowed and the social-justice theology of our own faith foundation, but we trust that people of other faiths and of no faith will find comparable theology and/or philosophy in their own beliefs. For as Pope Leo XIV said in May, compassion is not a characteristic of religion but one of being human. Human beings are called to be compassionate, no matter what their religion.
In contrast to the need for compassion and common humanity, the reconciliation budget passed by House Republicans endorses slashing aid for, among others, school children and Medicaid recipients, victims of natural disasters, nonprofit organizations, farmers, clean energy, students, millions of the poorest worldwide, and virtually every person in the U.S. whose annual income falls below $1 million.
Details of this devastation, and the unprecedented increase in the U.S. national deficit that would result have been chronicled by analysts as diverse as Catholic Relief Services, the Congressional Budget Office, the Tax Foundation, the Guardian, the Jesuit Refugee Service USA, and many more.
The numbers are staggering. Medicaid that covers the health needs of 72 million Americans (20% of the U.S. population), pays about half of all nursing home costs, and covers 40% of all births would lose $600 billion under the budget sent to the Senate. The cuts would force rural hospitals to close, reduce funds for nursing home care, and leave almost 8 million people without health insurance, among other losses—but give an extra $90,000 annually to the top 1% of earners.
Cuts for food assistance to the poorest of our citizens would leave 40 million people hungry, including 16 million children. Cuts to food and medical aid globally already have cost lives, and health officials estimate that 1.6 million people worldwide will die in the next year now that the U.S. no longer sends aid.
Students would lose access to interest-free loans while they are in school as the budget strips $350 billion from programs aiming to make higher education more affordable.
Clean energy technologies would lose support for implementation while fossil fuel industries that contribute to climate change and its devastation would gain billions in new subsidies. Grants to reduce air pollution would be eliminated as would fuel-efficiency standards for autos and pickup trucks. Even a program that simply provides data on the energy use of household appliances would be cut.
Details and numbers such as these have poured out from research institutes and policy analysts that track budgets and policy. When faced with such details, the compassionate individual may feel overwhelmed and not know where to focus attention. What can one individual do when faced with a budget that, in the words of Archbishop John C. Wester (June 3, 2025, America Magazine), “basically steals from the poor to give to the rich.”
First, as Catholics, we turn to principles from social-justice teachings. Archbishop Wester highlights three crucial teachings the budget violates: a preferential option for the poor, solidarity, and advancement of the common good. “As passed by the House of Representatives,” he says, “this bill forsakes the most vulnerable among us, widens both the economic and human gap between the rich and poor, and ignores the common good to benefit only the wealthiest in our country.”
Let us join our voices with others to oppose a budget that violates Catholic teaching, denies compassion for other humans, and bankrupts our nation both morally and fiscally. Call and write your Congressional representatives, often, and say that you cannot support such a budget. Work diligently to elect representatives who can support the common good of the 90% who are not millionaires.