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What spending levels and policy riders do Democrats propose for 2025 appropriations?
Executive Summary
Democrats’ public counterproposal for 2025 appropriations centers on extending funding at FY2025 levels while adding targeted policy riders to preserve health subsidies, veterans’ services, housing supports, and science and energy programs. Their package opposes several Republican riders — notably provisions cutting diversity, equity and inclusion programs and restrictions on immigration-related work authorizations — and includes modest increases for priorities such as Housing and Urban Development and Legislative Branch needs [1] [2] [3]. Democrats framed their plan as both a short-term funding bridge and a vehicle to protect existing social-safety-net and programmatic authorities slated to lapse under GOP proposals [4] [5].
1. Why Democrats framed a “keep-the-lights-on” approach — and what that means for spending levels
Democratic text on the FY26 continuing resolution largely extends FY2025 funding levels as a baseline while carving out specific exceptions that add or maintain funding for priority programs; that approach is meant to avert agency disruptions and avoid dramatic shifts in agency operations [4] [1]. The measure preserves existing authorizations for community health centers, the National Health Service Corps, and certain Medicare and Medicaid demonstrations, effectively maintaining health and social program spending rather than proposing large across-the-board increases. Democrats also used the continuing resolution to create technical flexibilities — for example, extended availability of specific funds and authorities to accelerate operations where needed — which keeps programmatic spending stable while allowing limited targeted upticks under current caps [4] [1].
2. How Democrats used policy riders to defend healthcare and veterans priorities
A central component of the Democratic counterproposal is policy riders aimed at sustaining health-care subsidies and safety-net programs that Democrats argue would otherwise lapse or be weakened under the Republican short-term bill. Democrats pressed to extend enhanced health insurance subsidies set to expire and to continue Medicare- and Medicaid-related demonstrations; Congressional Budget Office modeling warned that failure to extend those subsidies could leave millions uninsured, a point Democrats used to justify their riders [5] [1]. In parallel, the bill explicitly extends veterans’ programs such as nursing home care and supportive services for very low-income veteran families, reflecting Democrats’ emphasis on protecting existing commitments to veterans rather than cutting those budgets [1].
3. Where Democrats diverged from Republicans — riders on social policy and agency rules
Democrats objected to several Republican policy riders they deemed harmful to civil-rights and personnel policies, including provisions that would block diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and that would restrict employment authority for certain immigrant groups within the legislative branch. Those objections were pronounced in debates over the Legislative Branch bill, where Democrats defended modest funding increases while opposing riders that would create exceptions for pay loopholes or continue prohibitions affecting DACA recipients [2]. Democrats presented their counterproposal both as a substantive funding vehicle and as a rebuke to ideological riders they say would alter federal workforce policies and program access without broader consensus [2] [1].
4. The housing fight: Democrats pressed for more HUD funding but faced limits
Senate Democrats packaged a three-bill spending approach that increased HUD funding above the House proposal, proposing $73.3 billion for HUD programs versus $67.8 billion in the House FY26 bill, signaling a priority on affordable housing and homelessness programs. Despite the increase, Democrats’ HUD plan still fell short of fully renewing all Housing Choice and Emergency Housing Vouchers, with analysts warning that over 100,000 households could face lost assistance absent further funding [3]. Democrats used these allocations to argue for fuller investments in tenant-based vouchers and community development, while acknowledging bipartisan constraints and competing priorities that limit how quickly those gaps can be closed in a short-term continuing resolution [3].
5. Political context, procedural outcomes, and competing narratives
Democratic proposals repeatedly failed to advance on cloture votes in the Senate as both sides traded procedural measures; Democrats’ counterresolutions were defeated multiple times in early October, underscoring the political impasse that turned appropriations into leverage rather than into negotiated omnibus funding [6]. Republicans framed their short-term bill as a baseline continuation of current funding with limited exceptions, while Democrats argued Republican riders and failure to extend subsidies would produce real-world harm, especially in healthcare and housing [5] [7]. The legislative dynamic left Democrats emphasizing protection and modest increases for targeted programs, and Republicans emphasizing continuity with different policy riders, producing a stalemate that required further negotiation to prevent a shutdown [6] [4].