What Happens in D.C. Does Not Stay in D.C.

This week, committees in the U.S. House of Representatives released major reconciliation proposals with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other programs. As the title suggests, these proposals will have big impacts for Missouri families, our healthcare, our nutrition, and our state budget. The federal government controls the budgets for most major anti-poverty programs. Unfortunately, many of those programs are being proposed for massive cuts as a result of lawmakers’ efforts to pay for tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the richest individuals and corporations. 

The pace of news out of Washington can be quite overwhelming. Multiple programs are at risk of losing funding, have already lost funding, or are facing elimination due to loss of staffing. Most of the changes to major programs can be divided into three categories: proposals as part of the ongoing reconciliation process, changes through executive action, and proposed FY26 budget changes. Below is more information about the timelines for these three categories and the key programs impacted. 

Federal Action	Timetable	Overview	Key Programs Impacted
Reconciliation	Likely Summer 2025 with major cuts implemented immediately.	This is a special fiscal process that only requires a majority vote in each chamber to pass.  Reconciliations bills are not subject to a Senate filibuster. The process starts in the House where committees are currently releasing proposals.	SNAP Medicaid
The Trump Administration’s FY26 Budget Proposal	Unclear. The new federal fiscal year begins September 1st.	The administration’s proposed budget was released earlier this month. In recent years Congress often does not pass a budget and instead has relied on Continuing Resolutions.	Head Start LIHEAP Housing supports
Executive Actions	Immediately implemented. However, many actions have been withdrawn due to court challenges or delayed or cancelled due to court rulings.	These executive actions include both changes to agency staff and changes to agency process and rules.	Title X Family Planning Services LIHEAP HUD housing supports School meals programs

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is a special legislative process for fiscal related bills that only requires a majority in both chambers. Reconciliation bills are not subject to a filibuster in the Senate so they are often used when the majority party does not have a 60-vote majority in the Senate.  The Speaker of the House originally set Memorial Day weekend as the deadline for the 2025 reconciliation bill to be passed by both chambers and sent to the President. Due to political pushback against cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, the draft proposals have been delayed. The proposal outlining Medicaid cuts was released on Sunday and the proposal for SNAP cuts was released on Monday. This initial stage in the House is an important opportunity to support maintaining strong SNAP & Medicaid programs and fight against these dramatic cuts. 

• Proposed SNAP cuts will increase hunger in Missouri: The House Agriculture Committee has proposed a $290 billion cut to SNAP, the largest cut in the 85-year history of the program. This cut amounts to a nearly 30% overall cut to federal funding for the nation’s largest anti-hunger program. One out of ten Missourians use SNAP benefits to put meals on their table. Forty-six percent of those SNAP households include children and fifty-four percent include a person with a disability. These cuts to SNAP will take away food from Missourians in need and unsustainably shift costs to our state budget.  Click here to sign on to Empower’s letter to Missouri’s congressional delegation urging them to stand up for Missouri families and protect SNAP. 

• Proposed Medicaid cuts will cause thousands of Missourians to lose healthcare: The House the Energy and Commerce Committee proposal released Sunday included $715 billion in cuts to health programs, the vast majority of those are cuts to Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office analysis found that the proposal would cause 13.7 million more Americans to become uninsured. The cuts to Medicaid rely on increasing red tape to disenroll beneficiaries including a new national work requirement. The few states that have implemented a similar requirement saw a dramatic loss of Medicaid coverage for working individuals and no increase in employment. In Missouri, nine out of ten Medicaid recipients are already working, caring for a child, or attending school. Manatt Health estimated that a work requirement would cause 69,000-78,000 Missourians to lose Medicaid including 4,000-13,000 children caught in the red tape.  Click here to contact Missouri legislators to reject these cuts and protect Medicaid.

Executive Action

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities maintains a list of all major executive actions. Here are the executive actions that are impacting anti-poverty and criminal justice programs in Missouri:

• Federal staffing cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program  (LIHEAP) – In April, the Trump administration closed down the federal office that administers the LIHEAP grants to the states. This move jeopardizes the flow of LIHEAP grants to the state which currently only has funding through the end of September. LIHEAP provides assistance to 100,000 Missourians each year to help with heating and cooling costs. In FY 2023, the state received $186 million for its LIHEAP program.  

• Department of Justice cuts grants for crime victims and reentry program – Missouri lost $6 million dollars when the Department of Justice cut 263 grants nationwide in April. The cuts included community based reentry programs for individuals returning from prison and jails and funding for a Bullet Related Injury Clinic in St. Louis. 

• Funding withheld for Title X family planning & birth control – Federal funding for birth control and family planning services for low-income individuals was “temporarily withheld” for sixteen health care providers.  Missouri was one of seven states that lost all Title X funding due to this withholding. The Missouri Family Health Council reports that if funding is not restored “clinics across Missouri will be forced to lay off staff, scale back services or shut down entirely.”  In April, the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association filed a lawsuit challenging the withholding of grants. 

• USDA eliminated two programs that connected schools to local farm-fresh food– In early March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ended grants for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. In 2023, 67% of Missouri schools participated in a farm to school program. Missouri received $1.3 million in 2023 for its Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement programs. 

Proposed Budget Changes

• Head Start avoids elimination in released budget proposal – A leaked Initial draft of the administration’s budget proposal highlighted an elimination of the Head Start program. In Missouri, Head Start provides early childhood education from birth to age five to over 12,000 children. The initial draft faced significant push back from child advocates and the skinny budget proposal released on May 2nd did not include any cuts to Head Start. To support the decision to maintain Head Start funding, the National Head Start Association is continuing its sign on letter urging funding for Head Start. Click here to show your support for Head Start.

• Zero funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program in budget proposal  – In addition to the federal staffing cuts, the Administration’s budget proposal eliminates LIHEAP funding. 

• Major cuts to housing vouchers and other housing supports in budget proposal – The proposal includes $26.7 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This is estimated to be a 46% reduction in rental assistance. Currently, 174,900 Missourians rely on federal rental assistance to afford their homes. More than half of those people are in families with children. Click here to add your organization to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s letter to support funding for housing programs in FY26. 

Want to learn more about federal policy advocacy? Empower Missouri is holding a series of trainings on Civic Engagement (details here) and Federal Advocacy (details here).