DeLauro Releases Fact Sheet on Republican Funding Bill that Accelerates the Stealing of Taxpayer Funds from American Families and Businesses
WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released a new fact sheet on how the Republican continuing resolution (CR) provides a blank check for unchecked billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump to steal funds from American families and businesses.
“This continuing resolution is a blank check for Elon Musk and creates more flexibility for him to steal from the middle class, seniors, veterans, working people, small businesses, and farmers to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,” said Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro. “Veterans will suffer with higher housing costs, poorer quality of health care at the VA, and no advance funding for treatment from exposure to toxic chemicals. It makes the cost of living worse for so many hardworking people. It raises rents for many low-income families. With reduced staff and closure of Social Security offices, seniors will struggle. This bill also cuts Army Corps of Engineers construction projects by more than 40 percent, while Elon Musk’s SpaceX program gets special treatment across the government.”
The Republican full-year continuing resolution fails to lower costs for the American people, harms our environment, and makes Americans less safe, less healthy. The bill:
- Fails to lower the cost ofhousing and instead cuts rent subsidies for low-income and working Americans by more than $700 million, leaving landlords to foot the bill for or evict more than 32,000 households including veterans, survivors of domestic violence, seniors, and families with disabilities.
- Would allow Elon Musk and President Trump to fire thousands of employees at the Social Security Administration, which would result in closures of Social Security offices, increased wait times, and unacceptable backlogs for Americans trying to access their earned benefits.
- Enables Elon Musk to direct contracts to his companies like Starlink and SpaceX, while unvetted SpaceX employees have burrowed in the FAA, with no requirement for public transparency, fair competition, or Congressional approval – all while mission-critical jobs have been cut at the FAA and Elon Musk’s spaceships exploded during two failed space launches since January, causing major disruptions to air travelers.
- Cuts Army Corps of Engineers construction projects that keep commerce safely flowing on our waterways, manage flood risk, and restore ecosystems by $1.4 billion, or 44 percent, and Elon Musk and President Trump, not Congress, will determine all project funding levels.
- Reneges on veterans’ medical care and creates future uncertainty. More veterans are enrolled in VA care than ever. While the bill includes $6 billion in mandatory funds to address an immediate funding shortfall, it fails to include $22.8 billion in fiscal year 2026 advanced funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund to care for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances that House Republicans included in their own funding bill last year. It also frees Elon Musk and President Trump to redirect funding meant for homelessness assistance grants, mental health care, rural health, opioid and substance abuse programs, some oncology programs, and caregivers support, however they see fit.
- Gives Elon Musk and President Trump broad discretion to eliminate individual programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including programs impacting coastal and Great Lakes areas, as well as funding for climate change research and for improvements in the forecasting of severe weather, after they already fired hundreds of weather forecasters.
The bill cuts funding for nondefense programs and services by $13 billion while increasing defense spending by $6 billion compared to fiscal year 2024 enacted levels. It cuts nondefense funding by $15 billion and defense by $3 billion relative to the fiscal year 2025 levels in the Fiscal Responsibility Act agreement.
Ranking Member DeLauro released a statement when the bill was first released, here.
The fact sheet detailing how this continuing resolution gives a blank check to Elon Musk and President Trump is here.
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