Following the release of Congress’ end-of-year continuing resolution package unveiled on December 17, President-elect Donald Trump made clear his opposition, according to news coverage, a move that places key aging services policy wins at risk. In a statement, President-elect Trump urged lawmakers to “pass a streamlined bill” that doesn’t give Democrats “everything they want.”
In a post on X, Elon Musk, an advisor to President-elect Trump, said that a partial government shutdown, which will occur if the continuing resolution is not extended by its midnight December 20 deadline, “is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill.” Also on X, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance called for a streamlined “temporary funding bill without Democrat giveaways combined with an increase in the debt ceiling,” noting that if the debt ceiling must be increased (and it will in 2025), he’d rather have that happen during President Joe Biden’s administration.
The 1,547 page bill includes an extension of the continuing resolution until March 14 (thus keeping affordable senior housing programs funded, among many other annually appropriated programs) as well as several health extenders, improvements to workforce programs, reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, and other pieces beneficial to aging services providers. The bill also includes more than $100 billion in disaster relief requested by the White House and $30 billion for aid to farmers. These aging services priorities and critical disaster aid funding could now be in peril if the year-end funding package is scrapped.
Keep up with the latest developments via our Updates: Year-End Funding and Policy Negotiations serial post.
