“God of justice and mercy, you call us into right relationship—with you and with one another. Yet we confess that we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves…”

The Apostle Paul reminds us that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself … and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Reconciliation, in our faith, is not merely a legislative tool—it is a holy calling: to restore right relationship, repair what is broken, and seek peace grounded in justice. Yet today, Congress uses the word “reconciliation” to advance a budget that widens division, deepens inequality, and prioritizes coercion over compassion. As people of faith with concern for our neighbors and public responsibility it is time to act and tell Congress to uphold their commitment to promote public policy that uplifts the communities who elected them to serve. What is at stake in this moment is not only policy—it is the moral direction of our common life.

We confess that a federal budget is a moral document—a kind of collective prayer that reveals what, and whom, a nation values. In this reconciliation process, we hear a troubling confession: there is always funding for enforcement, but never enough for care. This is not the reconciliation of Christ. It is not the restoration of right relationship, but a deepening of imbalance.

The current  reconciliation proposals make these priorities unmistakably clear.  There is significant new funding toward enforcement and militarization, including $38.2 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and between $22 and $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection (CBP), along with additional funding for the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Secret Service. Altogether, this package represents approximately $72 billion in new spending. At the same time, the broader budget framework calls for $1.2 trillion in additional defense spending over the next decade, including nearly $250 billion in increased spending—about a 27 percent surge—in a single year. 

At the same time, the recent reconciliation policy—and the trajectory this package continues—has required deep sacrifices from programs that sustain human dignity:$700 billion in cuts to Medicaid, limiting access to healthcare, a $90 billion cut from SNAP, and $294 billion in changes to student loan programs. Meanwhile, tax policy has reduced federal revenues by $4 to $5 trillion over the next decade.

In this moment, we confess that we have confused fear with faith, mistaken control for peace, and funded walls while neglecting neighbors.

We must speak prophetically as we approach this moral moment. Budgets are not abstractions; they shape real lives. When billions are directed toward enforcement and exclusion while food assistance, healthcare, and educational opportunities are diminished, we witness not only a set of fiscal decisions but a wound in our shared life.

The Reformed tradition teaches us that God’s sovereignty extends over all life, including the ordering of our public and economic life. The prophet Isaiah warns against such choices: “Woe to those who make unjust laws… to deprive the poor of their rights” (Isaiah 10:1–2). The Confession of 1967 reminds us that “God’s reconciliation in Jesus Christ is the ground of peace, justice, and freedom among nations which all powers of government are called to serve and defend.” The Brief Statement of Faith declares that we are set free “to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor.” Reconciliation, therefore, is not abstract.

So we confess, as a people, that we have too often been silent when budgets harm the vulnerable. We have permitted our national priorities to drift from the demands of love and justice. Yet confession, in our tradition, is never the final word. It leads us toward repentance, and toward new life.

Therefore, we affirm that true security comes from justice, not domination. We affirm that human dignity must guide public decisions and budget priorities. We affirm that reconciliation requires investment in relationships—in healthcare, nourishment, education, and opportunity. A faithful budget would invest in people with at least the same urgency that is now given to enforcement and militarization. Such choices would reflect a commitment to right relationship and shared flourishing.

Therefore, as people called by God toward reconciliation for us, our community, the nation, and the world, we call on Congress to reject this reconciliation package.

We urge people of faith to speak to their Senators and say no to $72 billion in new enforcement funding without corresponding investment in human needs, and no to expanding ICE and CBP at the expense of life-sustaining programs. We call for advocacy that insists on a different vision—one grounded in care over coercion, healing over harm, and justice over imbalance. And we call the Church to witness boldly, proclaiming that a budget is a theological statement, and that this one calls for faithful correction.

Write or call Congress today and tell your elected policymaker to vote no to this reconciliation package now. Votes are imminent and your neighbors need you to speak up now.