Tens of thousands of people gathered in more than 225 towns and cities across the United States on Saturday for the Families First National Day of Action, a sweeping grassroots protest against the Trump administration’s recently passed budget bill. The demonstrations, organized by a broad coalition of labor unions, advocacy groups, and community organizers, centered on opposition to what they called a “big ugly budget bill” that dramatically slashes key social programs while directing record-level funding to immigration enforcement.
The day of action came three weeks after the U.S. House passed and President Donald Trump signed a federal budget that strips health insurance from 17 million Americans, cuts food assistance for 2 million people, and makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history.
“Yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. And we are just days away from the 60th anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare at the end of this month,” said Ai-jen Poo, executive director of Caring Across Generations and president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “These policies represent a promise we made to each other: that no matter the ups and downs of life, our ability to take care of our families, from one generation to the next, should be supported.”
“But a big ugly budget bill just passed,” Poo continued, “that breaks that promise by making historic cuts to programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, by using our tax dollars to stoke fear and rip families apart simply due to their immigration status. This is not what families want, and those who passed it must know that the vast majority of us want our tax dollars to go to healthcare and food, a safety net for families, supporting public funds for families, health, food, and the economic security for all of us, not billionaires.”
The Families First coalition—comprising more than 75 organizations including Caring Across Generations, MoveOn, Community Change Action, MomsRising, Planned Parenthood, People’s Action Institute, and several labor unions like SEIU, AFSCME, AFT, and NEA—organized the protests with a message of unity across generations, geographies, and economic lines.
“To show our power and resolve for a better future we came out in the thousands all across the country, hosting over 225 events where we peacefully protested, to show the intergenerational face of those of us prepared to hold the ones who passed this bill accountable every day, and to take action,” Poo said. “From spelling out the word ‘familia’ on the beach in California, taking a Medicaid Motorcade through the state of Indiana, to a rally in D.C. on the National Mall at the seat of power.”
In Washington, D.C., demonstrators concluded a 60-hour vigil opposing Medicaid cuts with a rally at noon on the National Mall. Jennifer Wells, the director of economic justice at Community Change, addressed the crowd by reflecting on her own experience growing up in poverty. “I’m here both as an advocate and organizer and as someone who has lived the realities we’re fighting to change, as a person who has been directly shaped by the programs that are currently under attack,” she said. “I was a Medicaid kid, I was a SNAP kid. These programs kept me and my mom and my brother healthy, alive, and moving forward when we had nothing to fall back on.”
In Newark, New Jersey, families and activists gathered in Military Park, holding signs and banners calling for increased investment in social programs and denouncing corporate favoritism. “Congress is helping the rich get richer while cutting healthcare, education, and support for working families,” New Jersey Citizen Action posted on social media. “We’re making sure everyone knows who’s responsible. We’re fighting for a country where every child is cared for, no one goes hungry, and we all have access to the healthcare we need to live.”
In rural Indiana, the Indiana Rural Summit staged a “Motorcade for Medicaid,” with participants driving past local hospitals that could be forced to close without continued Medicaid funding. “We’re using the event as a touchpoint to demonstrate the importance and value of local hospitals that are at risk of closing because they have historically relied on Medicaid for financial viability,” said organizer Michelle Higgs. “We want to amplify the voices of those who are impacted, whether they’re disabled, have a chronic illness, or are elderly.”
From Miami to Seattle, union members took to the streets in solidarity. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) members marched in cities including Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Washington, D.C., Allentown, New York City, Boston, and Las Vegas. In Connecticut, hundreds marched to the Brennan Rogers Magnet School in New Haven, which closed due to a state funding shortfall. “Cleaners, healthcare workers, construction workers, we are the ones that make this country run and we ask for no special privileges in return. but we are under attack,” said Ciro Gutierrez, a 32BJ SEIU Connecticut commercial member.
The day of action was intentionally timed to reflect on the anniversaries of landmark public programs. Organizers contrasted the nation’s historical commitments to economic and health security with the current budget’s rollback of those very values. With Medicaid and Medicare turning 60 at the end of July, many demonstrators carried signs invoking their own reliance on those services or the risk they now face in losing them.
While the events varied—from beach installations in California to marches through urban centers—the underlying message was unified: the federal budget should prioritize families, not billionaires.
“All across the country we showed that when our families stick together, we are powerful,” Poo concluded. “When we share our stories, we break through. When we stand side by side—from small towns to big cities—we can’t be ignored. And we won’t be divided.”
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