House Speaker Johnson and White House Pressure House Republicans for Deep Spending Cuts to Domestic Programs in FY26 – Take Action!

By Kim Johnson, Senior Director of Policy 

With the introduction of President Donald Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget request, members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are working to reach topline spending agreements—known as “302(b)s”—for each of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund federal programs and services, including the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill that funds vital housing, homelessness, and community development programs run by HUD.  

While the specifics of these bills are still being drafted, House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) has stated his committee will draft their FY26 spending bills close to the president’s budget request, which proposes a historic 44% cut to HUD programs. Proposed cuts include a 43% cut to the rental assistance programs millions of people rely on to keep a roof over their heads. The House Appropriations THUD Subcommittee is expected to release the text of their THUD bill in early July and has scheduled a review of the bill—known as a “markup”—on July 14, with a full Committee markup scheduled for July 17. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) are reportedly still discussing topline spending agreements and a schedule for markups.   

Congress has until October 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, to draft, negotiate, and pass final FY26 spending bills. While Republicans control both the House and the Senate, any spending bill needs at least 60 votes to pass the Senate, so final appropriations bills will need bipartisan support to be enacted. 

Take action TODAY: Urge Congress to expand, not cut, funding for vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs!  

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

• Using NLIHC’s new advocacy toolkit, “Opposing Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” to call on Congress to protect and expand affordable housing and homelessness resources. 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 congressional member offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources to you, your family, your community, and your work. You can use NLIHC’s Take Action page to look up your member offices or call/send an email directly!
• Sharing stories about people 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 2,300 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest possible level of funding for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY26.