Truth and Action Roundup 5.23.25

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, a reliable weekly source of information, inspiration, and action for the second Trump administration. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. Today is Friday, May 23, and we’re continuing to monitor the changes wrought by the Trump administration. Our hearts go out to the families of the couple who was shot and killed Wednesday night outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Our prayers and support are with the Jewish community in D.C. and beyond. Let us redouble our commitment to end all forms of hatred and violence. As we mark Memorial Day weekend in the United States, let’s remember those who have lost their lives serving in our military and continue striving to bring about a radically more just and peaceful future. — Rev. Adam Taylor, Sojourners In the News Here’s what’s been happening this week: 1) The House GOP passed Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” the massive budget reconciliation bill that contains many of Trump’s second term legislative priorities. The bill would add trillions of dollars to the national debt via tax cuts that will disproportionately benefit the wealthy, while also cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, and other programs that help some of society’s most vulnerable people. It now heads to the Senate, where significant revisions are expected. 2) Trump leveled false accusations of a “white genocide” taking place against white Afrikaner farmers in an Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, the latest example of Trump casting himself as an avatar of white grievance. The meeting follows Trump’s February executive order cutting off aid to South Africa and the recent admission of a group of white Afrikaners to the U.S. after the administration fast tracked them for refugee status. 3) The United Nations and leaders around the world continue to warn that nearly half a million people are facing catastrophic hunger in Gaza, calling for Israel to immediately increase the flow of aid into the enclave to levels sufficient to meet the need. In related news, the United Kingdom suspended free trade talks with Israel and imposed sanctions on West Bank settlers in protest of Israel’s new military offensive in Gaza. 4) A federal judge stated that the Trump administration violated a court order not to deport migrant people to third countries where they have no ties. The administration allegedly sent a plane carrying eight migrant people to South Sudan, but as of this writing their current location is unclear. This latest development where the administration refuses to disclose the location of people they’ve taken into custody functionally cuts people off from their lawyers and any hope of adequate due process. 5) The Food and Drug Administration announced plans to limit access to seasonal COVID-19 boosters to people 65 and older and people with underlying conditions that increase their risk. Critics warn the policy is unnecessary given that the vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective, and ignores the risk to healthy people of developing long COVID. Take Action Call your member of Congress to oppose Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”! Before you take some well-deserved rest this Memorial Day weekend, it’s critical to call your Senators today to let them know the budget reconciliation bill the House just passed is fundamentally cruel to some of society’s most vulnerable people while rewarding the wealthiest Americans, and they need to oppose it. Our toolkit will walk you through how to make your call as successful as possible. Join us at the U.S. Capitol for a Pentecost witness for a moral budget! On June 10, we will gather for a public procession and vigil in defense of programs that protect society’s most vulnerable people. We will gather in partnership with many other national and local faith organizations. Take Action: Tell Congress to protect Medicaid! The budget reconciliation bill would cut Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars and cause millions of Americans to lose insurance coverage. Join people of faith and conscience in raising our voices to oppose these harmful changes to Medicaid now! What We’re Reading and Watching Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Inverts Biblical Values | The Bible says whoever is kind to the needy, honors God. This budget has other ideas. (By Adam Russell Taylor) In the American South, I Saw Echoes of My Palestinian Homeland | The specific injustices in the South, Palestine, and the Bible may be different, but they share one common theme: the powerful always seek to erase the victims. (By Lamma Mansour) Can Christians Make Cool Clothes? | After the COVID-19 pandemic, I started paying more attention to what I was wearing. I started doing research on places that put time and effort into well-made pieces of clothing that look good, are built to last, and are ethically produced by people who care about their employees. (By Tyler Huckabee) Deep Breaths  This week’s guest writer for Deep Breaths is Tyler Huckabee, managing editor of Sojo.net. “How scared should I be?” This is a question I’ve been hearing a lot lately, especially from people who find out I work for an organization like Sojourners. As managing editor of sojo.net, I spend a lot of time working on stories about the horrors facing Americans and the systemic injustices affecting marginalized communities worldwide. And while I’m proud of the work our team does, I don’t know that it gives me any unique insight into the true temperature of the country. I can tell you that democratic norms are being torched at an alarming rate, but you likely already knew that. “So much going wrong, so much to say, and all of it happening so quickly,” as Nemik says in Andor. “The pace of repression outstrips our ability to understand it.” You’ve likely seen the same headlines I have, so you’re familiar with the mounting threats we are all facing. But none of that really answers the question. Fear isn’t measurable, and even if someone could assign it a number, what would that change? “How scared should I be?” is not a question that leads to useful information. I wonder if that’s why the angels are always telling people to “fear not” when they show up in the Bible. They do not tell people to “fear less” or “be about 30 percent more afraid than you are now.” Instead, they instruct us to banish fear from our hearts altogether. As Paul tells Timothy, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.” And so a binary is set up for the people of God. On the one side, there’s fear. On the other, there’s power, love, and self-control. God has given us the latter, and these are the qualities we have to offer to a scary world: not more fear, but more power. Not more horror, but more love. Not more fear, but more self-control. So “how scared should I be?” Not at all, according to Paul. Instead, let us ask “how much should I love?” and let God guide us in the eradication of fear. ––Tyler Huckabee, managing editor, sojo.net The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Managing Editor. sojo.net: Tyler Huckabee Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Senior Adviser and Director to the President’s Office: Elizabeth Denlinger Reaves Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps Political Director: Chad V. Stanton Director of Congregational Outreach & Education: Rev. Andrea Saccoccio Mobilizing and Policy Assistant: Miriam Tellez Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims Unsubscribe or update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842