John,

The United States is less than two weeks away from a government shutdown, and this morning House Republicans are trying to pass a government funding bill that does not stop the administration’s attacks on Congressionally approved funding for local communities and ignores the health crisis triggered by the harms of this summer’s budget package and upcoming expiration of the enhanced ACA premium tax credits.

Although Congress passed trillions in permanent tax breaks for the rich and corporations in the Big Brutal Bill this past summer, they did not extend the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credit, which will expire at the end of this year. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office issued new estimates yesterday that show the harm Congress will do if it fails to prevent cutbacks to ACA insurance for individuals.¹ Extending the enhanced premium tax credit alone will mean 3.8 million more people will have health insurance through 2035. Undoing other new ACA restrictions would help millions more to be insured. The House CR turns its back on millions of people who need health insurance.

And it’s not enough to simply demand that Congress approve funding for human needs programs; they must ensure those funds are used by the administration according to the laws Congress enacts. If the executive branch can simply refuse to spend those funds, or if bipartisan funding legislation can be wiped away by later partisan votes, Congress is simply giving up its role. When they do, our people suffer the consequences.

In communities across the country, people are being harmed by attacks on access to food assistance, early childhood programs and funding for public schools, mental health services, and other basic needs programs. The Constitution grants Congress the power of the purse to appropriate funds, and it must be exercised now to ensure adequate funding for our communities. We must stand up to these attacks—join CHN and make your voice heard!²

Send Congress a message demanding they take back the power of the purse and vote “NO” on any government funding bill that does not include extending the enhanced ACA premium tax credits and does not include instructions on how the Trump administration must spend appropriated funds and by when.

Congress must stand up against unilateral Trump administration actions, including so-called “pocket rescissions,” and require that rescissions of appropriated funds cannot be passed by a simple majority in the Senate. While this summer we were able to pressure the administration to restore $7 billion in public education funds, they’ve cancelled or frozen more than $410 billion in funding for programs that make a real impact in local communities.³

Congress must include enforceable language in any final funding agreements that ensures the administration adheres to funding deals—so that the funding for basic nutrition assistance, preschool, education, housing, mental health, and substance use programs, as well as other services included in bipartisan spending bills, reaches the communities and people they are intended to serve. And given how the administration has been stealing funds from local communities, Congress should extend expiring funding to stop efforts to “run out the clock.”

Congress was elected to serve the people of this country. We’re demanding they act now to protect access to health care and stop the stealing of needed funds from our communities. Congress was not elected to serve Donald Trump.

Join us in calling on Congress to vote NO on any government funding package that does not include extending the ACA benefits and protecting Congressionally allocated funds.

Thank you for all you do,

Meredith Dodson,
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ The Estimated Effects of Enacting Selected Health Coverage Policies on the Federal Budget and on the Number of People With Health Insurance
² The Coalition on Human Needs Opposes Partisan House Continuing Resolution
³ NEW: Weeks Away from End of Fiscal Year, Trump is Blocking $410+ Billion in Funding Owed to Communities Nationwide

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

If Congress doesn’t pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) by September 30th, the federal government will shut down on October 1st.

But instead of coming to the table to negotiate a bipartisan bill to avert a shutdown, last night House Republicans paved the way for a vote on their partisan CR that does nothing to help millions of people access affordable health care, such as extending the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits.

When Congress passed its Big Brutal Bill, they didn’t just cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid and SNAP. They also failed to extend the enhanced ACA premium tax credits, which are now set to expire at the end of December. Now, in response, health insurance companies on the ACA marketplace are requesting premium increases starting January 1, with payments expected to rise by over 75% on average, and in a dozen states, costs will more than double.¹

At the same time, people in communities across the country are being harmed by attacks on access to food assistance, help with housing costs, early childhood programs and funding for public schools, mental health services, and other basic needs programs. Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought have cancelled or frozen more than $410 billion in funding for programs, including over $1 billion in substance use and mental health treatment, $250 million for school-based mental health grants (impacting over 200 programs in 30 states), $500 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, $1.7 billion from programs that help communities transition to clean energy, $311 million to develop preschool programs, and $70 million from legal services that help unaccompanied migrant children.²

Send a direct message to Congress telling them to vote against any government funding bill that doesn’t protect health care, including extending the ACA premium tax credits or include a provision against Trump’s rescissions of Congressionally appropriated funding.

Trump’s dictatorial funding freezes and cancellations, on top of partisan Republican cuts, are decimating vulnerable communities and keeping us less safe. The only avenue we have available right now is for Congress to assert its constitutional duty.

By refusing to negotiate in a bipartisan manner to help millions of people maintain their health insurance and stop Trump’s cancellations of congressionally-approved spending, Trump and Congressional Republicans are driving us straight towards a shutdown, which will cause tremendous harm that will hit people with low incomes hard—disproportionately people of color, people with disabilities, and children.

After the passage of the Big Brutal bill, which cut Medicaid and SNAP funding by $1 trillion over 10 years, the last thing we want to do is create more pain for the most vulnerable.

Send a message to Congress demanding they vote against any appropriations package that does not protect health care, including the extension of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits or include guardrails to ensure that funding from bipartisan spending bills reaches the communities and people it is intended to serve.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ How much and why ACA Marketplace premiums are going up in 2026
² NEW: Weeks Away from End of Fiscal Year, Trump is Blocking $410+ Billion in Funding Owed to Communities Nationwide