John,
When the House returns to Washington next week from a week back in their districts, they’ll vote on a budget that seeks trillions of dollars in cruel cuts to pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the rich.
This isn’t an exaggeration. Likely cuts to Medicaid and food assistance via SNAP alone could total at least $1.1 trillion―the exact amount that Republicans want to hand to the richest 1% in a renewal and expansion of their 2017 tax scam.
Medicaid could see at least $880 billion in cuts through options such as work reporting requirements, which will kick eligible people off of their health care by ensnaring them in red tape; a reduction in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which previously added 20 million people to Medicaid; or a cap on federal Medicaid aid for states, which could result in tens of millions of people losing health care coverage.1
They’re also seeking $230 billion in cuts to SNAP nutrition benefits―more than a 20% cut to SNAP overall―by reducing the already-modest daily SNAP benefit of $6.20 a day to just $4.80 a day per person,2 by limiting a beneficiary's nutrition benefits to only three months out of every three years if they can’t document that they’ve worked a certain number of hours or show they’re exempt, or by changing the structure of SNAP and forcing states to cut benefits, eligibility, or both—which would be especially harmful during recessions when state revenues are plummeting but more people need help.3
At a time of rising food prices, and when 41 million people received SNAP benefits in 2024, these cuts will force families to go hungry just to pay for more tax cuts for the rich.
Congress needs to hear from us now. The House is about to vote on these deep cuts, and President Trump is pushing the Senate to ram through this package ASAP. Write to your senators and representative right now and tell them to reject making cuts to health care and nutrition for low-income families to pay for more tax cuts for the rich.
SIGN & SEND
The combination of health care and nutrition cuts will worsen people's health and could ultimately result in thousands of deaths.
When Congress expanded Medicaid to cover millions of poor people between 2014 – 2022, it saved 27,400 lives, according to a recent study.4 This budget asks the poorest families to pay with their health, and even their lives, to enrich the wealthiest among us.
If passed, this budget would represent a massive upward transfer of wealth, taking vital resources away from poor households just to further enrich the already wealthy.
Send a message to your senators and representative right now demanding they reject cuts to Medicaid and SNAP nutrition benefits when they vote on budget topline numbers. (The House vote is expected next week.)
The initial numbers demanded by right-wing extremists are not unstoppable. Nearly a quarter of people in congressional districts nationwide (23.6%) receive Medicaid and millions of our neighbors participate in food assistance programs. If Democrats vote in lockstep against this budget resolution and we can peel off a few swing-district Republicans who recognize the harm this will cause to their constituents, we can stop these cuts dead in their tracks.
Thank you for taking action today to defend the health care and nutrition of tens of millions of households throughout the country.
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action
1 Medicaid Work Requirements Could Put 36 Million People at Risk of Losing Health Coverage
2 Republican SNAP Proposals Could Take Food Away From Millions of Low-Income Individuals and Families
3 Bluesky thread by SNAP expert Ty Cox Jones on shifting SNAP benefit costs from the federal government to states
4 Saved by Medicaid: New Evidence on Health Insurance and Mortality from the Universe of Low-Income Adults∗
