“My hope is that these voices from priests and nuns, from pastors and rabbis from all over our country, reading Scripture — the same Scripture that my colleagues read — will challenge their conscience and test them to reconsider their vote for a bill that will be profoundly harmful to those at the margins of our country,” he said.
Asked if he believed any of his Republican Senate colleagues would be moved to vote against the bill, Coons said yes, arguing that “in many of their home states, rural hospitals will close and emergency rooms will be flooded and families will be hungry” if the bill becomes law.
The lawmakers were flanked by prominent faith leaders who have been critical of President Donald Trump’s administration, such as the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington; the Rev. Barbara Williams-Skinner, coordinator of Faiths United to Save Democracy; the Rev. Jim Wallis, head of Georgetown University’s Center of Faith and Justice; and the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, head of the Christian social justice advocacy group Sojourners.
Some of the clergy left the event to meet with lawmakers and their staff, hoping to make their case in person.
The gathering followed an earlier rally at a nearby park, where other faith leaders outlined frustrations with the legislation.
“It is a budget that robs from Peter and Paul,” said the Rev. Keith William Byrd Sr., first vice president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. and pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Washington.
Demonstrators rally against the current budget bill, June 10, 2025, in Washington. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)
Byrd criticized the bill for increasing military spending while also cutting programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.
“Lord help us when we can pay for bombs but cannot feed our children,” he said.
The rally followed weeks of advocacy by other religious leaders. Last week, a group of faith leaders primarily from Texas rallied in Washington against a provision of the bill that would include a $5 billion national school voucher program.
“Vouchers are a corruption of God’s common good,” the Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, a Texas pastor, told the crowd.
In an interview with RNS, Johnson — who is head of Bread, a Christian community in Fort Worth — said he was inspired to speak out both because of his faith and his experience in Texas, where the state Legislature recently passed a controversial school voucher provision.
The Rev. Charles Foster Johnson speaks against vouchers during a demonstration near the Capitol, June 4, 2025, in Washington. (RNS photo/Jack Jenkins)
