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To: Senator Ted Budd and Senator Thom Tillis
Tell Senators Budd and Tillis to say NO! to the Big Monstrosity
To Senators Budd and Tillis,
There are moments in a nation’s life when the veil is torn asunder, when the truth emerges not as a whisper but as a tempest—and in such an hour, to stand idle is to stand complicit in the ruin.
You now find yourselves poised upon a precipice, gazing into the abyss that this so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" would bring forth—a monstrous creation stitched from the flesh of disaster and sewn with the golden thread of selfish ambition. It seeks not to preserve life, but to protect marble pillars and manicured lawns; not to lift the broken, but to shield the towers of the rich from the same storms that raze our humble homes.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, North Carolina has become a landscape of despair. Over $60 billion in devastation—towns drowned in filth and sorrow, families dispossessed, the rivers choked with the wreckage of lives once whole. Yet when our people cried out for aid, they were met with silence from Mr. Trump, and silence still from you. FEMA, that frail arm of mercy, was cast aside. A promise made beneath the last administration has been scorned, and you, who might have spoken, instead let the door close upon us.
But now—how strange, how cruel—now we see that same agency, its coffers emptied of compassion, summoned to serve the private fortresses of a single man. Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower, the gilded haunts of privilege—each will be swaddled in armed protection, while our communities struggle to clear the mud from their schools and the dead from their fields.
This is not mere cowardice, Senators. This is betrayal veiled as policy. This is allegiance not to a republic of laws, but to a man who has long since abandoned truth for spectacle, loyalty for greed.
You once stood behind him, and he fed you illusions—glittering promises to care for North Carolina, to stand with us in our darkest hour. And yet here we are, cast into the darkness alone, while $300 million is funneled into preserving his sanctuaries from the very chaos he denies us shelter from.
The bill you are being asked to support is no act of governance—it is an act of hubris, the final bolt driven into the monster’s neck. If passed, it will turn FEMA into a grotesque parody of its purpose: not a lifeboat for the drowning, but a fortress wall for the powerful.
So I ask you: when the next hurricane sweeps across our land—when it tears down churches and children’s homes, when it floods the dreams of farmers and factory workers—will you dare to look them in the eye and tell them why there was no money left? Will you point to Mr. Trump’s gate and say, “We spent it all there”?
Senators, the shadow lengthens. History watches. And we, the people of North Carolina, are not blind.
Find your courage. Deny this grotesque creation. Vote NO.
Lest what remains of your honor be buried beneath the debris of this storm.
Yours in solemn indignation,
A Citizen of North Carolina
A Citizen of North Carolina
Why is this important?
Let me be blunt: if Budd and Tillis vote for the "Big Beautiful Bill," they are choosing to abandon North Carolina in its hour of need so that Mr. Trump can funnel $300 million in disaster relief money into protecting his private properties—Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower, his golf courses—while our communities drown in debris and debt.
Hurricane Helene caused over $60 billion in damage across North Carolina. Entire towns are still under water—literally and financially—and yet the Trump administration refused to honor a Biden-era promise to fully fund our cleanup.
But now, when that same FEMA budget is being raided to pay for law enforcement security at Mr. Trump’s private estates, Budd and Tillis are staying silent again? That’s not just cowardice. It’s complicity. They’re putting party loyalty over the people who elected them—over the families, farmers, and small businesses of this state who are getting left behind.
This is pure hypocrisy. For years, they’ve stood behind Mr. Trump’s empty promises to “take care of North Carolina.” They cheered while he blamed FEMA, blamed President Biden, and pretended he’d “take strong action” to help us rebuild. Well, here’s the truth: he lied—and now he’s cashing in.
This bill doesn’t just “appropriate” money. It hijacks FEMA—an agency created to save lives—and turns it into a slush fund for Mr. Trump’s personal protection racket. You think that’s going to help North Carolina voters the next time a hurricane rips through Craven County or a tornado levels homes in Randolph? When FEMA says there’s no money left, remember where it went: Mr. Trump’s front gate.
And let’s be honest—this isn’t about national security. This is about shielding a billionaire’s real estate portfolio from the same disasters they’re condemning their own constituents to face alone. He gets full reimbursement. We get the bill.
So what will it be? Will our Senators finally show the courage to stand up for the people of North Carolina, or will they keep hiding behind Mr. Trump’s shadow while he bleeds this state dry?
If Budd and Tillis vote for this bill, they are telling every storm-ravaged town in this state that they don’t matter. That they can pick up their own debris. That Mr. Trump’s gilded balconies deserve more protection than our children’s schools.