Actor Noah Wyle has been arrested after taking part in a protest against government spending cuts in Washington, D.C.

The former ER star joined more than 100 members of the ADAPT organisation on Capitol Hill on Monday to voice his opposition to plans to reduce funding for the Medicaid program, which the activists fear may force the elderly and disabled out of their homes to seek treatment in nursing facilities.

But the protest was cut short when police handcuffed demonstrators, many of whom were in wheelchairs, and took them into custody after they refused to abandon the campaign.

Wyle isn't the first actor to face trouble for joining political protests in the capital this year - his former ER co-star George Clooney was arrested and charged with disorderly crossing a police line in Washington, D.C. last month while raising awareness about the humanitarian crisis in the newly-independent South Sudan.