Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer on May 15 testified before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education for a hearing on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiscal Year 2026 budget request. A so-called “skinny budget” document submitted to Congress would reduce DOL’s discretionary budget to $8.6 billion for FY2026, compared to its current $13.3 billion. Get the details here.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his fiscal year 2026 (FY26) budget proposal to cut over $30 billion from HHS during two congressional hearings on May 14 before the House Appropriations Committee‘s Subcommittee on Health and the Senate HELP Committee. Read the details here.

House Financial Services Subcommittee Chair Mike Flood’s May 14 statement comes at a time when the White House is requesting a 43.6% cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s  fiscal year 2026 appropriation.  LeadingAge contends that public subsidy is needed. Read more here.

The White House issued its “skinny” budget proposal to Congress on May 2 highlighting the Trump administration’s priorities for fiscal year 2026 (FY26), which begins October 1. The proposal specifically includes a 26% cut to the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) discretionary budget. Many of the funding cuts requested in the skinny budget reflect similar reductions in funding and the elimination or consolidation of programs outlined in the April 10 leaked HHS budget draft. Read more here.

The skinny budget request, which is devoid of details to fully understand its reasoning and impact, asks Congress to block grant the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) rental assistance programs to states and provide them with 42% less in funding to run these programs compared to FY25 funding. Read more here.