This week: The House of Representatives is rushing to make historic cuts in Medicaid, food assistance, and education, while increasing the federal deficit by trillions of dollars. Take action here.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote in the next 1 to 2 days on the most dramatic cuts to social safety net programs in U.S. history. House committees have just advanced legislation that would cut $300 billion from education programs, $800 billion from healthcare and Medicaid programs, and $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over a decade. Early estimates from the Congressional Budget office suggest over 7.6 million people would lose health coverage under this proposal, and other estimates conclude that 11 million people, including 4 million children would be at risk of losing food assistance. States cannot make up this gap. These cuts come within a wider proposal that would also increase the net federal debt by $3 – 5 trillion to due to wider tax cuts.
Over the past two months, ELCA clergy, lay leaders, volunteers and ministries have sent over 4000 messages to Congress citing concerns about the disproportionate impact these cuts would have on low-income communities and the people we serve. ELCA social teaching encourages our advocacy to promote a “sufficient” and “sustainable” livelihood for all, prioritizing adequate assistance programs with good fiscal stewardship of our national financial resources. Slashing these core programs amid wider economic uncertainty will leave millions of families vulnerable to poverty and with few other resources to turn to. Finally, the bill has been extremely rushed with often less than 24 hours for the public to even consider, let alone weigh in on its specific contents.
The vote on this bill in the House is expected as soon as tomorrow so your Representative hearing from you now is particularly crucial. We urge you to email your House Representative to urge a “No” vote ahead of an anticipated floor vote on the bill this week and to ask them to take more time to hear from their constituents on its impact. Customize a message to your lawmakers today with a unique story, citing your concerns and why the faith community is alarmed by this proposal.
[Posted: 5/20/2025]
