Democratic Leaders Plan Meeting with President Trump Ahead of October 1 Federal Funding Deadline—Take Action!
Aug 18, 2025
By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) may meet with President Donald Trump ahead of a looming October 1 federal funding deadline. Congress has until October 1, the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2026, to reach an agreement on and enact 12 federal appropriations bills, including the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill that funds HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs. Without final spending bills, Congress will need to pass a short-term funding extension called a “continuing resolution” (CR) to continue funding federal programs and avoid a partial government shutdown.
The president and Leaders Schumer and Jeffries are hoping to reach an agreement on a CR that will allow them to avoid a shutdown on October 1, giving Congress more time to negotiate and enact a final FY26 spending package. President Trump expressed skepticism, noting that “we will meet, but nothing’s going to come out at the meeting.”
Possible recessions request threatens potential for bipartisan spending agreement
In addition to the funding disagreements that typically arise during annual appropriations negotiations, the FY26 process has been marred by the threat of a recissions request from the White House. A “recissions request” is a request submitted by the president to Congress, asking Congress to rescind, or take back, money that it has already appropriated. Once a request is submitted, Congress has 45 days to vote on the request. If they do not vote, it is automatically considered “rejected” by Congress.
While passing appropriations bills through the Senate requires 60 votes—essentially mandating that appropriations bills have bipartisan support—a recissions request only requires a simple majority of 51 votes to pass the Senate. As a result, when one party controls the House, Senate, and White House, a recissions request can pass without bipartisan support. In July, congressional Republicans passed, and President Trump signed into law, a recissions request clawing back $9.4 billion in spending that had previously been approved by Congress.
During the Senate Appropriations Committee review of their FY26 THUD budget, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) proposed an amendment that would require any recissions requests targeting the money appropriated by Congress in the FY26 spending bills to first be approved by the Appropriations Committee; while both Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) expressed support for bipartisanship in the recissions process, they argued that such a decision does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committee. The amendment failed along a party-line vote.
Take Action
Members of Congress will need to address the need for continued federal funding before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. While members will not be back in their D.C. offices until September 2, August recess is a great time to share with your federal elected officials the important work being done with HUD funding and to highlight the need for increased investments to ensure the continuation of vital programs and services. Keep the pressure on your representatives by contacting your members of Congress and urging them to protect and expand investments in vital affordable housing and homelessness programs!
- Contact your members of Congress
- Set up an in-district meeting or invite them to tour your programs to see firsthand how HUD funding is positively impacting your community.
- Access NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit, “Opposing Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” for talking points, advocacy materials, media templates, and more.
Congress needs to hear from you about why these vital resources are needed in FY26 in order for individuals and communities to thrive, including NLIHC’s priorities:
- At least $35.65 billion to renew all existing 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 IHBG program and $150 million for IHBG-C funds targeted to Tribes with the greatest needs.
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.