As organizers, when we end a campaign we do a retrospective — to understand what happened, where we built power, and how to plan for future fights.

Let’s do that now with our fight to stop Trump’s budget bill.

At Bend the Arc, we started organizing on this budget fight in February — 6 months before it passed. Federal money (our tax dollars) is one of the primary pillars that uphold Trump’s cruel policies, including the deportation machine.

No new money = no new cages, ICE staff, or raids.

Our theory of change was: if we join with immigration, Jewish, and pro-democracy organizations across the country to harness our collective power, we can sink Trump’s budget bill.

But the math in Congress didn’t look good. We knew the chances of stopping this bill were slim with Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.

So we set our focus on holding every single Democrat accountable, especially around Trump’s #1 priority: immigration enforcement.

OUR ACTIONS

We lobbied our members of Congress
In Washington, DC and in cities across the country, Bend the Arc members met with their Senators and Representatives to share our opposition and demand their commitment to opposing the bill.

We rose up in the streets with all communities impacted by this budget
Through mass mobilizations every month, American Jews chose solidarity, knowing we all have a stake in our collective liberation.

We called our legislator’s offices — and called, and called, and called
Hundreds of Bend the Arc members and allies utilized our digital tools to call and email their Members of Congress, Democratic and Republican, to put their opposition on the record.

We made this a Jewish community issue
Bend the Arc joined with Dayenu, Mazon, and T’ruah for a Jewish community call to action to showcase our commitment to resist fascism and organize together.

THE IMPACT OF THE BILL

And still, the budget bill passed. As Bend the Arc CEO, Jamie Beran, stated “Like all bad budgets, this one will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable. But it will also spare no one. Not red states, not MAGA voters, not straight, white Christians — nobody.”

The billions of dollars put towards supercharging deportation and detention will devastate our communities for years to come, all while leaving millions without access to healthcare and food support. This budget makes ICE the highest funded federal law enforcement agency in history. It’s devastating and almost impossible to comprehend.

We will see more raids and state violence, like what we witnessed in LA. We will see more detention centers constructed, such as the newly touted Alligator Alcatraz. We will see more beloved community members kidnapped, such as Fernando Mejia from Port Jefferson, NY.

OUR WINS

While we recognize the very real threats as a result of this bill, we must also lift up the wins of our movement:

Democrats held the line.
Our goal was to be part of the movement to keep all Democrats in line, and on this we won. Before uniting in voting No on the budget, moderate Democrats voted in support of anti-immigrant bills like the Laken Riley Act and supported numerous awful Trump appointees.

We weakened the overall bill.
Our collective advocacy and outrage also helped to block even more damaging amendments from the final bill, including stopping a last minute attempt to punish states which provide healthcare to immigrants through statewide-funded programming.

We won in the court of public opinion.
We've worked on budget campaigns in the past, but the level of engagement and advocacy for this budget fight was unprecedented. In fact, we launched our first ever federal week of advocacy with lobby visits to connect our chapters and their Members of Congress around this bill.

Our Democratic champions used their power
Being in the minority party, Democrats were often limited in what they could do. But that didn’t stop members of Congress from hosting hearings, introducing amendments, and holding the floor for hours and hours.

WHAT COMES NEXT

This budget is a further wake up call for more people to join our growing movement because we will all feel its impact.

• Share your story of how this budget bill will impact you and your loved ones, and read the growing collection.
• Join your neighbors in the streets for Good Trouble Lives On, with over 1,000 actions planned on Thursday, July 17th.
• Organize a Tisha B’Av action in your community to cry out for justice on this ritual day of mourning.
• Donate to power our upcoming fights and help us be a political home for Jews and allies resisting Trump.

In the long term, we’re already eyeing the 2026 midterm elections for the opportunity to organize everyone who is impacted by this budget into a voter movement.

There’s no way to sugarcoat how bad this budget is and the real and inhumane impacts it will have on our families and communities.

Continuing to fight Trump’s cruelty, and the fallout of the budget bill, is an issue of Jewish community safety.

History tells us that in moments of extreme social distress, people in power use antisemitism as a deflection. When the 99% are suffering in a failing state, those who profit from the policies that created the crisis will redirect blame to Jews, Muslims, immigrants, Black and brown people, trans people, the unhoused, and those with disabilities.

This only deepens our commitment to fighting for budgets and politics that truly provide safety to all our communities.