Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Sheryl Crow are some of the celebrities who have signed an open letter from Feeding America, speaking out against massive cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid baked into Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The stars are urging US Congress not to block funding for food and medical assistance programs that help millions “live more healthily and with dignity.”
The letter from the non-profit organisation, which runs a network of food banks across the US, addresses cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP in Trump’s bill, which has already passed the House of Representatives.
It is expected to be voted on in the Senate soon as, according to Reuters, Trump wants the bill to be signed into law before the July 4 US public holiday.
The House version of the Big Beautiful Bill, which passed in May, directly cuts $128 billion in state funding for SNAP, and could potentially remove another $92 billion that would knock people out of eligibility.
Additionally, the nearly $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid could deprive more than 10 million Americans of health insurance.
Feeding America’s letter noted that if the Big Beautiful Bill is approved by the Senate and signed into law as is, it could take “9.5 billions of meals a year through SNAP off the table” and boot “hundreds of thousands of people off Medicaid and into food insecurity.”
Feeding America said that an estimated 15.5 million children and 7.2 million seniors rely on SNAP and Medicaid to “make ends meet.”
The letter continues: “Food is a beautiful way humans show care, compassion and love to those around us. It’s a fundamental part of the human experience and a basic right we all deserve. Ongoing high grocery costs mean food is out of reach for so many families, and many of our neighbors simply do not have enough to eat. They don’t know where their next meal is coming from or if that meal will be enough to nourish and sustain them.”
The letter states that the cuts are “unacceptable and wrong” and that “it is not how people in this country treat each other when facing hard times.”
Other celebrities who have signed the letter include Zayn Malik, Michelle Williams, Connie Britton, Rosario Dawson, Liev Schreiber, Don Johnson, David Arquette, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth and Liza Colón-Zayas.
The letter concludes: “We call on Congress to reject cuts to these vital programs that help millions put food on their tables and provide access to health care.”
