Appropriators Move Cautiously Toward Temporary Funding Agreement to Avoid Government Shutdown on October 1—Take Action!

By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy 

House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) are working on an agreement to provide temporary funding to keep federal programs and services running at the end of the month and avoid a partial government shutdown. Congress has until September 30—the end of fiscal year (FY) 2025—to reach a temporary funding agreement, known as a “continuing resolution,” or CR.  

Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) signaled during a press conference last week that Senate Democrats could support “a bipartisan, short-term CR,” which would also include three of the nine appropriations bills Congress needs to pass for FY26: Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; and Legislative Branch. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have passed their FY26 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bills to fund HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs, but the bill has not received a full vote in either chamber.  

“Republicans and Democrats need to work together to fund the government with a short-term CR at the end of the month,” said Vice Chair Murray. “That CR agreement needs to reflect Democratic values and principles, and it needs to be a real bipartisan compromise.”  

While Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House, under the Senate’s filibuster rule, bills require at least 60 “yes” votes to pass; with a 53-47 majority, Republicans in the Senate will need support from at least seven of their Democrat colleagues to pass a CR. Vice Chair Murray highlighted the necessity that any agreement be “short-term,” and not another year-long continuation of the previous year’s funding. While the duration of the CR has yet to be determined, it will likely extend until mid-November to give appropriators additional time to finalize an FY26 spending agreement before the Thanksgiving recess.  

The Need for Additional Funding for Voucher Renewals  

Both the House and Senate have released FY26 THUD spending bills. While both reject the drastic spending cuts and programmatic overhauls proposed in President Trump’s FY26 budget request, neither spending bill provides sufficient funding to ensure renewal of all existing Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) or Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs). Without sufficient funding, vouchers will be lost through attrition—when a household no longer needs their voucher, the voucher cannot be reissued to a new family because it is no longer attached to funding. When renewal funding is insufficient—or when funding is cut—households that rely on a voucher to keep a roof over their heads lose their rental assistance, putting them at risk for housing instability, eviction, and in the worst cases, homelessness.  

At current funding levels, over 2.4 million households receive rental assistance, accounting for just one in four households who qualify. Under the House’s FY26 spending bill, an estimated 181,900 fewer households would be served; under the Senate’s bill, 107,800 fewer households would receive rental assistance. The loss of these vouchers would disproportionately affect older adults, people with disabilities, and families with children.  

Take Action 

Use NLIHC’s toolkits and resources to take action on FY26 funding, including by:   

• Using NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit, “Opposing Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” to call on Congress to protect and expand affordable housing and homelessness resources, including NLIHC’s priorities:  
• At least $35.65 billion to renew all existing tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) contracts, plus urgently needed funding to ensure the 59,000 households who rely on an EHV to keep a roof over their heads do not lose their assistance. 
• $5.7 billion for public housing operations, and at least $5 billion to address public housing capital needs.  
• $4.922 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program.  
• $15 million for the Eviction Protection Grant Program (EPGP), as provided in the Senate’s spending bill. 
• At least $1.3 billion for HUD’s Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program and $150 million for IHBG-Competitive funds, targeted to Tribes with the greatest needs.   

The toolkit includes talking points, advocacy materials, engagement ideas, and more resources for advocates to weigh-in with their members of Congress on the importance of these vital resources.    

• Emailing or calling members’ offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources to you, your family, your community, or your work. You can use NLIHC’s Take Action page to look up your member offices or call/send an email directly! 
• Sharing stories of those directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability. Storytelling adds emotional weight to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact actual people. Learn about how to tell compelling stories with this resource.   

National, state, local, Tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,700 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY26.    

Visit NLIHC’s Advocacy Hub for more information and resources that can help you take action and help protect the affordable housing programs people rely on.