Government Shutdown Extends to Third Week After Failed CR Votes in Senate
Oct 14, 2025
By Alayna Calabro, NLIHC Senior Policy Analyst
A partial shutdown of the federal government is extending into its third week, after the Senate repeatedly voted on and failed to pass two stopgap funding bills, known as continuing resolutions (CRs). House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has kept the House out of session since September 19, an effort to put pressure on Senate Democrats to vote in favor of the House-passed CR, even as dozens of House Republicans urge the Speaker to reconvene the House. The Senate is expected to vote today (October 14) on the House-passed CR for the eighth time.
The House passed on September 19 a Republican-backed “clean” CR, but the proposal faces opposition from Senate Democrats, who are calling for any CR to include a permanent extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits. These credits help people with low incomes better afford healthcare coverage but will expire at the end of the year without action from Congress, putting over four million people at risk of losing their health insurance (see Memo, 9/22).
Senators also voted again on Senate Democrats’ alternative proposal, which would extend federal funding through October 31 while also permanently extending the ACA credits; restoring roughly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts enacted in July through H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; restoring funding for public broadcasting stations; and barring the White House from enacting further rescissions of Congressionally-approved funding.
Senate Democrats are calling on their Republican colleagues to come to the negotiating table over the CR and extension of ACA credits. While Republican leadership continues to express blanket opposition to any agreement on extending health insurance subsidies before ending the shutdown, some Republican members of Congress have started to express support for extending the credits.
White House Issues Layoff Notices to Federal Workers, Including HUD Staff
Without a CR in place, President Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought have repeatedly threatened to use the shutdown to cut additional staff for “Democrat Agencies.” The White House announced on Friday (October 10) that the administration had begun a new round of substantial federal staff layoffs, targeting more than 4,000 employees across federal departments. Hundreds of HUD staffers received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices on Friday, with the deepest cuts concentrated in the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Nearly 100 HUD staffers who investigate fair housing complaints received RIF notices. Additionally, more than 100 employees in the Office of Public and Indian Housing received notices, as well as 30 staff in the Office of Community Planning and Development. Before this most recent round of RIF notices, an estimated 2,300 HUD employees, or 23% of the agency’s workforce, have left since January. These reductions are straining the remaining staff’s ability to perform core functions efficiently.
According to recent reporting, Senate Majority Leader Thune and other senior Republican lawmakers have advised the Trump administration not to move forward with mass layoffs and drastic cuts to government assistance programs, warning that these actions may backfire on Republicans.
Shutdown Risks for HUD-Assisted Households
Households who receive HUD rental assistance — including Housing Choice Vouchers, Project-Based Rental Assistance, and public housing — should have their rent paid at least through November. However, the longer a shutdown continues, the greater the risk to assisted households, and the greater the disruption to essential federal services and programs. The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) published two updated shutdown resources, one for tenants outlining the legal rights of households receiving HUD assistance, and the other providing an overview of the impacts of a government shutdown for legal aid attorneys.
NLIHC will continue working with our partners to monitor the shutdown, its potential effects on HUD programs, and the people and communities they serve.
The Need for Additional Funding for Voucher Renewals in a Final FY26
The shutdown was triggered by the beginning of the new federal fiscal year (FY), which began on October 1. Once a CR is in place, members of Congress will still need to come together to reach a final agreement in FY26 spending bills, including the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill that funds HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs.
While bipartisan talks to reopen the government through a CR are at a standstill, Senate Majority Leader Thune is considering bringing standalone, committee-passed appropriations bills to the floor for a vote. This approach would require Democratic participation. “There’s nothing holding him back from doing that,” Senate Appropriations Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) stated. “That does not change where we are right now in the CR. I prefer that the Republican leader talks to the Democratic leader, and they come up with a decision on how we’re going to move forward on all of this.”
While both the House and Senate FY26 THUD spending bills 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 enough – 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 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:
Full funding to renew all existing tenant-based voucher contracts, to ensure the people and families who rely on an HCV or EHV to keep a roof over their heads do not lose their assistance. Check out the “EHV Funding Cliff Mobilization Toolkit” for more information, including talking points and resources.
$4.922 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program, and for HUD to stick to its commitment to a two-year Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Continuum of Care Program.
$5.7 billion for public housing operations, and at least $5 billion to address public housing capital needs.
$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.