Members of Congress Begin Considering FY27 Spending as Conversations Continue Over Final FY26 DHS Spending Bill
Mar 02, 2026
By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy
Democrats in the Senate blocked a final fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on February 24 with a final vote of 50-45; under the Senate’s filibuster rule, at least 60 votes are required to pass a bill in the chamber. The DHS bill is the last spending bill Congress needs to enact for FY26.
Even as negotiations over the remaining FY26 bill continue, members of Congress are beginning to turn their attention to funding federal programs and services in the upcoming fiscal year. In preparation for drafting FY27 spending bills, members of Congress submit “Member Requests” to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Member Requests give members of Congress the opportunity to weigh in with the committee on programmatic and funding priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Members of Congress will also solicit recommendations from their constituents on what their appropriations requests should entail through a form on their website—for example, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have appropriations request forms for their constituents available online. These requests are a great opportunity for advocates to weigh in with their members of Congress about the need for more affordable housing and homelessness resources in their communities!
Take Action: Tell Congress to Provide the Highest Possible Funding for Affordable Housing and Homelessness Programs in FY27!
Member requests are a great way of weighing in with federal elected officials on the importance of increased funding for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in the coming fiscal year. Advocates can take action today by:
- 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.
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.