Alliance Alert: The Alliance for Rights and Recovery continues to closely monitor federal budget and appropriations discussions that will shape funding for mental health, substance use, public health, and healthcare programs across the nation. While Congress is still in the early stages of developing Fiscal Year 2027 funding legislation, the proposals currently under discussion could have significant implications for agencies and programs that support millions of Americans, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Medicaid, public health initiatives, healthcare access programs, and mental health and substance use services.
As these discussions move forward, the Alliance will continue working with national partners, people with lived experience, advocates, providers, and families to better understand the potential impact of proposed funding changes and identify opportunities to protect and strengthen critical services.
We remain actively engaged in federal policy advocacy, including efforts to preserve and expand funding for mental health and substance use services, peer support programs, recovery supports, housing initiatives, crisis services, prevention efforts, and other community-based supports that help people recover and thrive. We are particularly focused on ensuring federal investments prioritize voluntary, recovery-oriented, community-based services rather than more restrictive and institutional approaches.
The Alliance will continue monitoring congressional activity and will provide members with opportunities to engage in advocacy around federal funding decisions in the months ahead. This work builds upon our recent Congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., organized with the POWER Coalition and national partners, which highlighted the need for stronger rights protections, increased investment in voluntary mental health and substance use services, peer support, housing, crisis alternatives, and recovery-oriented systems. The briefing also emphasized the importance of ensuring federal policy is informed by lived experience, evidence, and community needs.
As Congress develops next year’s spending bills, we will continue working alongside national organizations and coalitions to gather information, educate policymakers, and advocate for federal investments that protect rights, expand access to services, strengthen recovery supports, and improve outcomes for people with mental health and substance use challenges.
HHS Funding Fight Kicks Off
By Kelly Hooper and Sophie Gardner | Politico | June 5, 2026
MARKUP MADNESS BEGINS — House lawmakers are scheduled to mark up a bill this morning that proposes a 4 percent reduction in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services — billions less than President Donald Trump requested, but still far below funding levels Democrats would like to see.
Trump’s budget plan sought a 12.5 percent reduction for 2027, but GOP appropriators have proposed a more modest cut that would set funding for the nation’s health agencies at $110.8 billion. That compares with the $116.6 billion lawmakers approved in February for the fiscal 2026 discretionary budget.
Why it matters: Today’s markup at the House Appropriations Health Subcommittee will be the first of several meetings on the budget bill where Democrats and Republicans are expected to spar over the legislation’s funding levels and provisions.
The House bill would give a $100 million boost to the National Institutes of Health, which provides funds that universities rely on for health research. Boosting funds for the agency has been largely bipartisan in Congress as both parties hope to see funds for biomedical research sent to their states. Trump has proposed shaving $5 billion off the NIH.
“This bill balances the need for responsible fiscal stewardship, while maintaining key investments in biomedical research, America’s schools, and core public health,” said Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), who chairs the subcommittee that funds HHS, in a news release.
But funding cuts and certain provisions in the bill have already riled up Democratic appropriators. Democrats on the Appropriations Committee released a memo Thursday contending that the proposal would jeopardize health coverage for millions of Americans, hurt women’s health and abandon ongoing health crises.
Democrats specifically take issue with a $2 billion cut to funding for operating the Affordable Care Act marketplace, the elimination of funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and reduced funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which could impact HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.
“As American families struggle to keep up with rapidly rising costs, the Republican plan would make matters worse,” said Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) in a news release. “Everything from childcare to healthcare has gotten more expensive, and the Republicans’ 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education funding bill would gut programs that families depend on to make ends meet.”
Key context: The fight over funding will play out ahead of the November midterm elections, as both parties point the finger at each other for fueling a health-affordability crisis. Republicans are carving out a message on GOP efforts to reduce fraud, waste and abuse in government health programs as a way to protect taxpayer dollars. Democrats, meanwhile, are messaging on Republican-led cuts and the lapse of enhanced Obamacare subsidies as key drivers of making health care less affordable for Americans.