John,

We are days away from a GOP shutdown, and the House has said that it won’t return earlier than October 1st—after a government shutdown would have already begun. Instead of playing games, policymakers should come together on a bipartisan basis to avert a shutdown―and address our health crisis and protect funding for local communities.

Donald Trump claims that congressional Republicans don’t have to “bother dealing with them,”¹ but policymakers need to create a bipartisan government funding bill that will get 60 votes to pass the Senate to keep the government running.

Send a message to Congress now, urging them to reject any continuing resolution that doesn’t restore Medicaid funding that was cut in the Big Brutal Bill, extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, and halt Trump's freezing of congressionally approved funds.

When Congress passed its Big Brutal Bill, they didn’t just cut over $1 trillion from basic needs programs including Medicaid and SNAP. They also failed to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of December. These credits have made health coverage affordable for millions of people―and reduced health costs for tens of millions more. Now, in response to congressional Republicans’ lack of action, health insurance companies on the ACA marketplace are expecting healthier people who can’t afford insurance will drop out, leaving a sicker pool of enrollees who will cost more to serve. Health insurance companies on the ACA marketplace are finalizing their premium increases now, which will go into effect January 1st. Families will start to get notices in the next few weeks about increased health costs before open enrollment begins on November 1st. For people losing the enhanced tax credit, the combined impact of higher premiums and reduced tax credits will mean payments rising by over 75% on average, and in a dozen states, costs will more than double.²

Vulnerable communities are taking massive hits from cuts to basic needs programs and increased costs for health care, groceries, and more, and those hits are expected to worsen if Congress doesn’t put mechanisms in place to stop Trump from freezing and rescinding more funding to critical programs―with estimates that they’ve already withheld $410 billion from our communities.³ For months, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have been shutting the government down little by little, firing workers at random, withholding funding for important needs for local communities along with other priorities like cancer research, and taking away health care from millions of Americans.

This is no way to run a government, and Congress must do everything in its power to stop hurting people. It should avoid a shutdown by agreeing on a spending plan which stops harm now, makes sure the administration can’t unilaterally “run out the clock”, and prevents frozen and canceled funding later.

Tell Congress to vote “no” on any government funding bill that leaves vulnerable communities behind.

Thanks for all you do,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ ‘Don't even bother dealing with them,’ Trump says of Democrats’ shutdown demands
² How much and why ACA Marketplace premiums are going up in 2026
³ NEW: Weeks Away from End of Fiscal Year, Trump is Blocking $410+ Billion in Funding Owed to Communities Nationwide

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Instead of coming to the table to negotiate on key priorities, House Republicans passed a partisan government funding bill that does not include any health care protections, such as preventing the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits from expiring, nor does it contain any provisions protecting congressionally approved funding from Trump’s ongoing attacks. And then they skipped town―vowing to not return until after September 30th, despite their partisan plan not even getting a majority vote in the Senate.¹

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

This is completely unacceptable.

Tell Congress to vote “no” on any government funding bill that does not renew the ACA enhanced premium tax credit and roll back attacks on health care from the Big Brutal Bill, and stop Trump from freezing and rescinding funding for our communities.

So far, 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), and $500 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program.² In other words, this administration has already shut down parts of government along with taking health care and other basic needs away from millions. They’ve fired thousands of federal workers who play a key role getting resources to local communities―and now they are threatening even more layoffs as a bargaining chip, while refusing to meet with Congressional leaders.³

The same communities that are being hit hardest by those funding cuts are the ones that will be hit by the jump in health care premium costs without the ACA enhanced premium tax credit. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the number of people becoming uninsured if the enhanced credit is allowed to expire could be as many as 2.2 million next year, with more in future years.⁴ These communities are also reeling from the historically deep cuts to Medicaid funding passed in the Big Brutal Bill earlier this year.

Despite Donald Trump’s claim that Republicans don’t need Democrats to pass the stop-gap spending bill, the Senate needs 60 votes to pass spending bills. Democratic leaders have pushed for a bipartisan meeting, which Trump cancelled. The House must come back and work with the Senate in good faith to pass a bipartisan government funding bill that protects vulnerable communities.

Send a message demanding Congress work together to pass a bipartisan spending package that defends health care and puts guardrails on the Trump administration.

Thank you for all you do,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ U.S. Senate Roll Call vote 528 (44-48)
² NEW: Weeks Away from End of Fiscal Year, Trump is Blocking $410+ Billion in Funding Owed to Communities Nationwide
³ White House mass firing memo signals Trump would accelerate priorities in a shutdown. Democrats aren’t backing down | CNN Politics
⁴ Democrats stake out opposition to spending bill, raising threat of a shutdown