By Kim Johnson, NLIHC
So far in 2025, two issues have dominated Congress’s attention: appropriations and reconciliation. These are two separate processes that result in two different forms of legislation:
- Appropriations is a yearly process to fund the federal government every fiscal year (FY). A new FY begins October 1 and lasts until September 30 the following year—for example, FY 2026 will begin
October 1, 2025, and last until September 30, 2026.- For a new appropriations bill to be enacted, it must have at least 60 “yes” votes in the Senate, so passing an appropriations bill through Congress requires bipartisan support.
- There are 12 appropriations bills that fund federal programs and services, including the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill that funds HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs.
- To move spending bills more quickly, Congress will often combine multiple bills into one “minibus” spending package, or all 12 bills into one huge “omnibus” spending package.
- Reconciliation is a special legislative procedure that allows Congress to bypass certain rules in the Senate, including the rule mandating a bill have 60 “yes” votes to pass. Instead, under reconciliation, a bill can pass the Senate with just 51 “yes” votes.
- This lower threshold means that if one party controls the House, Senate, and White House—as Republicans do now—a reconciliation bill can be enacted without any bipartisan support.
- However, in exchange for this flexibility, the types of provisions that can be included in a reconciliation bill are limited to changes in federal spending on “mandatory” programs (programs funded automatically and outside of the federal appropriations process, like Medicaid, Medicare, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP), federal taxes, and the federal debt ceiling.
Congress will have until October 1—the beginning of FY26—to enact all 12 annual appropriations bills. However, it is unlikely that Congress will be able to meet this looming deadline; instead, they will likely pass a continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily extend funding for federal programs. Without either a CR or final spending bills in place, funding for these programs will lapse, causing a partial shutdown of the federal government.
It is more important than ever that lawmakers hear from you about the need for long-term, large-scale investments in affordable housing and homelessness programs—starting with adequately funding Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs in FY26!