Demonstrators on wheelchairs protest outside the office of Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, regarding the proposed cuts to Medicaid, on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 11, 2025. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)
by Debadrita Sur
As the Trump administration rallied Senate Republicans to pass the president's broad policy bill, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly condemned its proposed cuts to Medicaid benefits, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and health insurance subsidies to finance tax breaks that will mostly benefit the most wealthy Americans.
"It takes from the poor to give to the wealthy," Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the bishops' conference president said in a press release that accompanied the USCCB letter released June 26.
The bill, which the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on before Congress breaks for the July 4 recess, "provides tax breaks for some while undermining the social safety net for others through major cuts to nutrition assistance and Medicaid," Broglio said in the release.
The House of Representatives passed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill May 22 by a 215-214 vote mostly along party lines.
Analysts have said proposals in the bill could cut Medicaid funding by as much as $880 billion over 10 years. It could strip health coverage from as many as 16 million Americans and lead to about 50,000 preventable deaths each year, according to a report released June 25.
President Donald Trump has claimed that the bill will lower the tax burden on Americans, eliminate taxes on tips, and cement the tax cuts proposed by his first administration.
In a May 20 letter addressed to U.S. senators and members of the House, the bishops' conference urged lawmakers to reconsider "provisions that will harm the poor and disadvantaged, as well as our immigrant brothers and sisters."
The USCCB's June 26 letter to senators addressed the bishops' concerns about how the proposed bill "impacts the common good." The bishops' June 26 release called for changes to the bill to "protect those most in need."
The letter was signed by the chairs of the USCCB's committees.
A spokeswoman for the bishops' conference did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bishops' stronger language echoes earlier criticism from women religious, who earlier this week rallied on Capitol Hill to express their outrage.
"The 'big beautiful bill' is not beautiful," St. Joseph Sr. Karen Burke said at the June 24 event. "It is harmful. It is unjust and it goes against everything we believe in as Catholic women religious."
In a recent commentary, Jesuit Fr. Tom Reese criticized the U.S. bishops, for their lack of unified public criticism to the proposed cuts.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks during a news conference at a Nov. 12, 2024, session of the fall general assembly of the bishops' conference in Baltimore. Also pictured are Bishops Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, and Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia. (OSV News/Bob Roller)
The letter cited Pope Leo XIV's June 21 plea to legislators to work towards the common good by "working to overcome the unacceptable disproportion between the immense wealth concentrated in the hands of a few and the world's poor."
The bill fails to protect families and children by enforcing sweeping immigration crackdowns and eliminating legal protections, they wrote. They also criticized proposals to cut clean energy programs and environmental initiatives.
The bishops urged legislators "to think and act with courage and creativity to preserve human dignity and uphold the common good and to change the provisions that undermine these fundamental values."
The letter cited the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that the bill would cause a $3 trillion deficit over the next decade, while cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and other social safety programs will result in $1 trillion in reduced government spending.
"Even assuming possible economic benefits, the poor should not be the ones to finance these changes, now or in the future," the letter said.
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