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February 27, 2026


 

Overview: The stalemate continues over the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, leaving employees at DHS, FEMA, TSA, and the Secret Service without pay. A funding bill did not pass in the House this week, and members voting against the measure cited the lack of substantial changes to immigration enforcement tactics as the reason for their negative vote.

Economy: In the week ending February 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims ([link removed]) was 212,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 206,000 to 208,000. The 4-week moving average was 220,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 219,000 to 219,500.

Housing: This week, Catholic Charities sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives applauding the passage of the Housing for the 21st Century Act. The bill focuses on housing supply and affordability and proposes changes to zoning laws and to federal housing programs, such as the Community Development Block Grant and the HOME Investment Partnerships program. However, the bill fails to address homelessness. The letter asks the House to prioritize provisions from the Reducing Homelessness through Programs Act in negotiations on the final bill, if and when the Senate passes it. Next week, the Senate is expected to vote on the ROAD to Housing Act, legislation supported by Catholic Charities USA. As it stands, this bill addresses supply, affordability, and homelessness.

Farm Bill-SNAP: On March 3, 2026, the House Committee on Agriculture will mark up the Farm Bill, impacting food and nutrition programs.CCUSA's President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson joined other national Catholic leaders in writing a letter ([link removed]) to the committee chairman and ranking member urging them to recommit to the Farm Bill's longstanding bipartisanship in addressing food insecurity.The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our nation's core nutrition program, must be strengthened.At a time when more than 47 million people across every state and congressional district struggle to put food on the table, policies that weaken SNAP's reach or add unnecessary barriers ultimately harm low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities, and children who rely on SNAP to meet their basic nutritional needs.Your voice is needed. You may join us in calling on committee members to strengthen SNAP's effectiveness and equity, particularly by:

* Delaying newly enacted state cost-sharing requirements from last year's reconciliation bill;
* Eliminating the lifetime ban on individuals convicted of a drug felony from receiving SNAP; and
* Providing Puerto Rico the opportunity to transition to full SNAP participation.

Please consider calling the House Committee on Agriculture ([link removed]) to ask them to keep in mind these three points in their deliberations.

Community Project Funding Requests: House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) released guidance for Fiscal Year 2027 programmatic, language, and Community Project Funding requests (formerly known as earmarks). As of February 25, 2026, members of Congress may submit programmatic and language requests and Community Project Funding requests for the upcoming year. Please check your Congressional representative's website for the deadline to submit funding requests for your local project. Some Members have set deadlines as early as next week.

The chairs of the House Appropriations subcommittees will begin releasing guidance for each bill. Please review each subcommittee's guidance in detail to confirm eligibility and ensure full compliance with all specific requirements. Due to high interest and demand, the limit for Community Project Funding requests is now increased to 20 projects per member.

General Resources

* Chairman Cole's dear colleague is available here ([link removed]).
* The electronic submission portal is available here ([link removed]).
* Programmatic and language request guidance is available here ([link removed]).
* Community Project Funding request guidance is available here ([link removed]).
* A list of eligible accounts is available here ([link removed]).

FY27 Member Request Guidance

* Official information, guidance, and resources, as well as forthcoming subcommittee details, for FY27 Member requests will be maintained and updated here ([link removed]).

Background

* Programmatic Requests: Members may submit a request to fund a specific program or activity in the bill at a specified level.
* Language Requests: Members may submit a request to include specific bill or report language that does not direct funding to a particular entity but encourages, urges, or directs some type of action.
* Community Project Funding Requests: Members may submit a request to fund specific projects in their communities, so long as the projects have a federal nexus and meet other requirements established by federal law, House Rules, and the Committee to ensure only high-quality projects are requested and funded.

 

"...do not let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors yourselves; use technology wisely, but do not let technology use you.

"Artificial intelligence is ... a great novelty -- one of the rerum novarum, or "new things," of our time. However, it is not enough to be "intelligent" in virtual reality; we must also treat one another humanely, nurturing emotional, spiritual, social and ecological intelligence. Therefore, I say to you: learn to humanize the digital, building it as a space of fraternity and creativity -- not a cage where you lock yourselves in, not an addiction or an escape. Instead of being tourists on the web, be prophets in the digital world!" Address of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, Meeting with students on the occasion of the Jubilee of the World of Education, 30 October 2025 ([link removed])

 

Q. What event in papal history took place on February 28, 2013?

Please send your answers to Spring ([link removed]) is the original meaning of Lent.From old English."

 

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