Congress Votes on Two Continuing Resolutions, But Still Have No Agreement to Avoid Shutdown on October 1—Take Action!

By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy 

Congress introduced and failed to pass two dueling continuing resolutions (CRs) last week before going on a weeklong recess. Federal lawmakers must pass a CR before October 1—the beginning of the new federal fiscal year—to extend funding for federal programs and services and avoid a partial government shutdown.  

The first CR, introduced by House Republicans on September 16, would have extended funding through November 21 and provided $88 million for additional security for members of Congress, the Administration, and the judiciary. The second, introduced by House and Senate Democrats on September 18, would have extended funding through October 31. In addition to providing additional security funding, congressional Democrats’ CR included a provision permanently extending enhanced “Affordable Care Act” (ACA) tax credits, which help people with low incomes better afford healthcare coverage. Without action from Congress, these credits are slated to expire at the end of the year, putting over four million people at risk of losing their health insurance.  

Democrats’ CR also included language that would “extend the availability of funds that have been improperly frozen” by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Trump Administration, and would have extended grant funding allocated under HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program for an additional year—a key request from advocates. Additionally, the CR included provisions to prevent future rescissions of previously appropriated funding. “Rescissions” refer to cancelling funding that has already been approved by Congress. Either the president or Congress can put forward a rescissions request, but Congress must approve the request for it to be enacted. A rescissions request only needs a simple majority of 51 votes to pass the Senate, rather than the 60 usually required in the chamber; when one party controls the Senate, House, and White House, a recissions request can be enacted without any bipartisan support.   

The House passed the first Republican-backed CR by a nearly party line vote of 217-212 on September 19; later that afternoon, the Senate voted 44-48 against the same CR, mostly along party lines. The Senate then voted on the Democrats’ CR, which also failed, with a final party-line vote of 47-45. After voting, members left town for a one-week recess, with just two scheduled workdays remaining before the September 30 funding deadline.  

The Need for Additional Funding for Voucher Renewals 

While both the House and Senate fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending bills for HUD programs 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 HCVs or 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 actively 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; in the Senate, 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.