AUCD’s Community Inclusion Team supports the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Network in partnership with the Administration for Community Living.
AUCD’s Maternal and Child Health Engagement supports the Autism CARES Programs, including LEND and DBP Programs.
AUCD’s Public Health Team works to create health promotion and public health efforts that include people with disabilities.
AUCD Emerging Leaders are a part of a community that includes trainees, early career professionals, self-advocates, and family members from AUCD member Centers and Programs.
AUCD's Disability Policy News (DPN) is a weekly newsletter highlighting federal policy issues affecting people with disabilities and their families. DPN features updates in plain language and action steps that people can take to educate policymakers. DPN is published every Friday.
In this edition:
The current continuing resolution (CR) expires at the end of January, which makes passing a new CR or full-year funding bill a time-sensitive priority in Congress. Senate and House leaders are working on a few funding bills.
AUCD Network programs and other programs affecting people with disabilities will be covered under the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor-H) bill, which looks like it will be last on the docket, along with the Defense funding bill and Transportation-Housing. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) has said that leadership is aiming to release bill text for the Labor-H bill on Sunday, along with a few others.
On Wednesday, the House passed a two-bill funding package for Financial Services and General Government, as well as National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs funding package. The bipartisan bills rejected a lot of the cuts that the Administration made in the President’s Budget for 2026; it included more than double what the Administration requested for the State Department. The next step is for the Senate to consider the bills.
On Thursday, the Senate passed three funding bills for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development; and Interior, Environment. It is now headed to the President. The Senate is adjourning for recess and will return on January 26 to finish the appropriations process before the CR expires. The House has a recess scheduled for the week of January 26.
At the end of last year, Congress passed a continuing resolution (also called a CR), which is a funding bill that makes sure the government has enough money for a few more months. This CR will fund the government until the end of January, so Congress needs to figure out how they will fund the government after that. This process is called "appropriations." Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use.
Senate and House leaders are working on a few funding bills.
On Wednesday, the House passed two bills to fund parts of the government that deal with money for the government, the safety of the country, and the State Department (works on relationships with other countries). The President had previously released a document that said he wanted to cut a lot of money for these programs. This document is called the President's Budget, and it is not law, but guidance that the Administration wants Congress to follow. However, Congress didn't listen to the President. Congress did not cut a lot of money for these programs. The next step is for the Senate to vote on these bills.
On Thursday, the Senate passed a few bills that the House already passed. These bills would give money to programs under these Departments:
The bills also give money to water programs and some science programs in the federal government. The next step is for the President to sign these bills into law.
AUCD programs and other disability programs are going to be in different bills, which are called Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bills. The leader of the House Appropriations Committee, Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), says these bills might be released on Sunday. The Senate is leaving Washington, D.C. for a week. They are going home to their states to have meetings and events. This time period is called recess or work in district. They need to come back from recess on January 26 to finish the appropriations process by the end of January. The House also has a recess scheduled for the week of January 26.
View past issues of Disability Policy News to learn more about AUCD's policy priorities and how you can engage in policy actions.
