Ignore New Budget Bill Hidden Horrors at Your Peril

Last week, I went to see the Bulwark Podcast Team in person at the Athenaeum Theatre here in Chicago with my husband and a dear friend. The discourse was thoughtful. It evoked some patriotism, dissected some issues and validated some frustrations. The reminder I needed the most, that I did not know I needed, occurred in the last ninety seconds of the two-hour show. Sarah Longwell, one of the hosts, reminded us that the last line in the Star-Spangled Banner, is “…and the home of the brave,” and we should live up to that moniker.

The “Home of the Brave” label really hit me. The truth is that is exactly who we are as a country. We are all about being brave. Keeping our country safe and free is not for wimps or scaredy cats. As I write this, many people are being incredibly brave right now to protect our freedoms, every day. The federal employees who have lost their jobs, our veterans/active-duty members who fought hard in combat and continue to serve, our activists, our immigrant neighbors, our rank-and-file Americans who are courageous by just doing their job or by simply opposing the Trump regime, every day. All brave. Now, all of us need to be brave.

Here in the land of the “Home of The Brave”, we as true patriots, (not faux patriots who wear red hats), now must be on high alert and ready to activate peacefully with protests, boycotts and electoral supports at any time, just like our revolutionary war ancestors were read to fight in a very different way. A highly imperfect group of people who traveled here to seek freedom who had very different perspectives had to band together and literally fight in combat at a moment’s notice, because they only had each other, they did not have a formal army. The only formal army around at that time was the one being used to take away their freedom. Sound familiar?

The current situation is not terribly different in terms of the threat to our freedom. The threats run rampantly throughout our country each day, which why today I want to highlight a few parts of the new budget bill that not many are talking about and will be equally horrifying to those items we are all aware of ( Medicaid, Nutritional Assistance and Medicare cuts as well as exploding the deficit by another $4 trillion).

The Hidden Horror List…
1. Section 70302 will allow Trump to avoid being held in contempt of court and as a result, he will have no accountability for crimes
2. Defunding the National Endowment for Humanities Act was wrapped up into the mega bill last month and will shut down scores of museums, art organizations, public radio and TV and much more
3. In section 43201, A.I. will not receive any regulation for ten years and this will have a chilling effect on campaigns and help spread disinformation
4. Dumping huge amounts of money into the cruel and unlawful removal of immigrants and building detention centers (to line the pockets of private prison businesses)

Let’s chat a bit about these perilous areas of this God-forsaken bill …

1. Contempt of Court Not Applicable to This President
The contempt of court provision in the current budget bill, specifically Section 70302, would restrict federal courts' ability to enforce contempt orders, including those against government officials who violate judicial orders. The provision requires plaintiffs suing the government to post a monetary bond before a court can enforce contempt orders, a requirement that is rarely met in government-led cases.
· Current:
Overall, the provision would prevent courts from using contempt orders as a means of enforcing injunctions or restraining orders against the government, or even private parties, unless a bond is posted.
· Retroactive Application:
The provision would apply retroactively, potentially invalidating existing contempt orders and hampering court's ability to act in ongoing cases.
· Potential Impact on Executive Branch Accountability:
Some argue this provision would weaken the ability of courts to hold the executive branch accountable for breaking the law.
2. Decimating Humanities Funding
Of course, one would not expect arts and humanities funding from this regime and, considering the Trump administration has been canceling grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and has proposed eliminating the agency entirely, this new round, unsurprisingly, takes it to a new level. The GOP/Trump proposal in the mega bill includes defunding the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) and all of its programs such as cultural museums of all types, cultural programs in school, departments in universities dealing with societal or cultural issues of any kind, public radio and TV, thousands of scholarship and fellowship programs. And more.
3. Creating A Wild, Wild West in Our Next Election: Deregulating AI
The recently passed budget bill includes a provision imposing a 10-year moratorium on state and local governments from enforcing or enacting AI-related legislation. This provision, known as the "AI regulation moratorium," is part of the budget reconciliation bill called the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act," which includes a range of Republican priorities.
Here are some key aspects of this provision:

• Scope and Exemptions: Section 43201(c) of the bill intends to prevent state and local governments from enforcing or enacting AI-related laws or regulations. It reportedly includes an exemption for criminal law, and some sources claim it also exempts "generally applicable law," although this is disputed.
• As a result, without regulation, AI-created disinformation around elections could be much worse than it already is.

4. Creating More Immigration Cruelty: Removal Operations and Detention Centers
From the Brookings Institute, 6/3/25:
The current draft of the 2025 reconciliation bill contains numerous provisions targeting immigrants. These include massive enforcement spending such as $45 billion for immigrant detention centers, a 364%annual increase, and another $27 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal operations.
Somewhat less attention has been given to tax and health provisions affecting immigrants living in the United States, including legal immigrants. Congress is considering limiting immigrants’ access to certain tax benefits, levying an excise tax on remittances, and penalizing states that use their own funds to provide immigrant health insurance.
The bill emphasizes removing benefits for unauthorized immigrants, but they are already ineligible for most federal tax benefits, despite paying nearly $60 billion in federal taxes annually. The new provisions take existing eligibility restrictions further, limiting benefits for many groups who lawfully reside in the U.S., including lawful permanent residents, individuals with temporary work visas, and refugees.

I think we can all agree that these hidden horrors from the GOP are wildly unpopular among independents and left leaning Americans. Which is why all of the work on this bill has been secretive, voted on in the middle of the night and rushed. The GOP are masters at intimidating their own members into submission instead of allowing thoughtful debate and worse, they simply ignore their governing partners across the aisle. To that end, there are many parts of this mega bill that we are just finding now and will continue. Those outlined here are but a few.
However, remember we are the “Home of the Brave,” and we can fight back. Let’s all continue to do what we can to live up to that ideal.

Actions to Take - Call Your Friends in Red States and Get Out There on 6/14!
1. Ask your friends in these states to call their senators (these senators are vulnerable in 2026 and need to be reminded as such) and tell them to vote no on this horror show of a bill. Remind them they can be easily voted out in 2026. Senate phone line: (202) 224-3121
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Bill Hagerty, Tennessee
Jodi Ernst, Iowa
Lindsay Graham, South Carolina
Susan Collins, Maine
Thom Tillis, North Carolina
2. Ask your friends who judges, lawyers, humanities teachers, technology workers, and immigrants to speak out against these hidden knives of hate in this bill. Remind them to be brave.
3. Join your friends in the streets to protest the Trump Regime on June 14th – No Kings Day Events near you. Find your closest protest and get out there peacefully and respectfully to make your voice heard, here:
https://indivisible.org/

We all can do hard things and we all can be brave.