May 8, 2026 | Vol. MMXXVI | Issue 160

In this edition:

• Budget and Appropriations

• Department of Health and Human Services

• AUCD Materials

• Words to Know

Budget and Appropriations

Senate Judiciary Republicans have released a proposal for their party-line budget reconciliation bill to fund the immigration enforcement agencies in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secret Service upgrades related to the President’s White House ballroom project. Congressional Republicans are also discussing a third reconciliation bill for a few months down the line that would invest heavily in the military.

Appropriators have begun drafting legislation to fund various federal agencies, as well as holding markups and hearings to consider the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2027.

Plain Language

Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use.

Congressional Republicans want to pass a bill to give money to the part of the Department of Homeland Security that includes immigration police: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They are using a special process called reconciliation. This process can be used for bills that are about spending money. It can be used when the same political party (Republicans or Democrats) are in charge of the Senate, the House, and the Presidency. This is because you don’t need as many lawmakers to vote ‘yes.’ It is usually used when lawmakers in one political party (either Democrat or Republican) want to pass bills they know the other political party wouldn’t like very much. This bill will also include money for some safety and security work at the White House, including making some change to the ballroom, which is one of the fancier event rooms.

Congress is starting to write bills that will include appropriations for different federal government departments and programs. They are having budget hearings, where they meet with agency leaders who talk about the President's Budget. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is in charge of funding and other support that AUCD programs get. Congress will also hold markups, which is when they meet to work on bills and make updates and changes.

Department of Health and Human Services

Vaccines – Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) are leading a bipartisan letter pushing the Administration to release funding that Congress already appropriated for Gavi, the international alliance that provides immunizations to children around the world. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined Senators Collins and Murray in sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking why the State Department has not sent out the $600 million that Congress approved to send to Gavi in FY25 and FY26.

Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stopped four taxpayer-funded vaccine studies from being published in the last few months. Two of the studies looked into the effects and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, finding that the vaccines are well-established as safe and that heart-related side effects were rare. The Washington Post reported that one of the studies was pulled after HHS officials “said the Trump administration would limit its approval of new coronavirus vaccine versions to high-risk Americans such as older adults and people with at least one health condition, according to University of Saskatchewan virologist Angela Rasmussen.” The FDA also blocked publication of two studies that looked into the shingles vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recently blocked a report that showed the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine to prevent hospitalizations.

Democratic leaders in the House Energy and Commerce Committee are seeking answers about the report that the CDC blocked from publishing. Full committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette Clarke (D-NY) sent a letter to Secretary Kennedy asking about the decision, made by acting CDC Director (and current National Institutes of Health Director) Jay Bhattacharya. The Members write that HHS has been suppressing important and useful information about the safety and efficacy while amplifying “unscientific claims about vaccine safety”, arguing that HHS actions have misrepresented the risks and benefits of vaccines to the public. They reference CDC’s webpage that was “aimed at disputing the longstanding scientific consensus that vaccines do not cause autism…its discussion of studies on the DTaP vaccine—which have never found a causal link to autism—omits that the vaccine has been associated with more than an 80 percent reduction in pertussis. This creates a misleading impression of the true balance of vaccines’ risks against their protection”.

Key Takeaways

The Gavi letter shows that there is bipartisan pushback regarding the Administration’s vaccine policies. Last week, we wrote about the recent changes to the U.S.’ relationship with Gavi. The U.S. used to contribute $300 annually to Gavi, but stopped donating in June 2025, per Secretary HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s direction. Secretary Kennedy has stipulated that the U.S. will begin funding the program again if Gavi stops using vaccines with thimerosal. Thimerosal, a preservative commonly found in vaccines, has been incorrectly linked to autism by Secretary Kennedy and others in the anti-vaccine movement. Secretary Kennedy and HHS officials also say that Gavi has not provided the U.S. with a specific plan for how its funds will be used.

The blocked studies match the Administration’s pattern of attempting to discredit and distort information that doesn’t match anti-vaccine ideology within the Department of Health and Human Services. Secretary Kennedy has a history of spreading misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine in particular.

Medicaid – New Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data shows that Medicaid enrollment has dropped by 3.4 million people between January 2025 and January 2026. While most of the eligibility and enrollment changes from H.R.1 have not yet taken effect, many states are either preparing for those changes early or taking advantage of them to kick people off Medicaid. According to a report from the Congressional Budget Office, H.R.1 is expected to push 10 million people off Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage by 2034.

Key Takeaways

The Washington Post also reports that “[a]pplications also are being processed more slowly than the 45 days usually allowed for people without disabilities. That’s particularly true in Alaska, where half of the applications are taking more than the usual 45 days; Wyoming, where 38 percent were taking longer; and Georgia, where 37 percent were taking longer.” These delays were forecasted by disability advocates who expressed concern during H.R.1 negotiations that implementing these new requirements for Medicaid would result in millions of people losing health coverage, which will be particularly damaging for people with disabilities.

Plain Language

Vaccines

Gavi Funding – Gavi is an organization that is made up of a lot of different countries. It helps children get vaccines all around the world. Vaccines are shots with medicine that keep from getting sick. Congress decided to give Gavi $600 million for 2025 and 2026, but the Administration is not giving Gavi that money even though they are supposed to. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Washington) are the two leaders of a letter to the State Department, which is in charge of Gavi money. Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined Senators Collins and Murray in sending this letter. In the letter, the Senators ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio why he hasn't sent Gavi the money yet. They tell him to send it soon. It's important that both Republicans and Democrats care about this issue, especially Senators Collins and McConnell, who are both high up in the Republican party, and Republicans are in charge of Congress right now.

Last week, we wrote about the recent changes to the U.S.’ relationship with Gavi. Last year, Secretary Kennedy said the U.S. would stop giving money to Gavi. He has said that the U.S. will start giving money to Gavi again if they stop using vaccines with thimerosal in them. Thimerosal helps vaccines stay effective for a long time so they will still work even after they have been stored in pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and hospitals for a while. Even though there isn’t evidence that proves it, Secretary Kennedy says that thimerosal in vaccines has harmed many people and hurt brain development in children. He says that more people have autism because they got flu shots with thimerosal in them. This isn’t true. Vaccines do not cause autism. People might not get vaccines if they are scared vaccines will make them disabled. If people don’t get vaccines, they are more likely to get sick from diseases.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – The FDA stopped four studies from being published. This means there were four studies that the government was doing and they planned on making the results of those studies public. The FDA stopped them from making them public, which is not usually what it does. The studies were about how the COVID vaccine and the shingles vaccine help people stay safe and out of hospitals. The Washington Post reported that one of the studies was stopped around the time that a few HHS officials said they were changing COVID vaccine policy to say that fewer people needed to get it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recently stopped a new report on the COVID vaccine and how it can stop people from needing to go to the hospital when they have COVID.

A few Democrats who are leaders in the House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Kennedy asking for answers about why these studies were stopped from being published. The Democrats were Ranking Member Frank Pallone (New Jersey), Representative Diana DeGette (Colorado), and Representative Yvette Clarke (New York). They said that HHS has been doing many things to make people think that vaccines aren't safe, even though they are. They mention that CDC had a webpage that gave wrong information saying that some vaccines cause autism, even though there is a lot of proof to show that they don't. They say that HHS has been trying to confuse people and give them the wrong idea about vaccine safety.

Medicaid

New data has come out from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) showing that fewer people are getting signed up for Medicaid. The new information says that there are millions fewer people signing up for Medicaid than usual. Many states are getting ready for the new Medicaid changes from H.R.1. The law gave them some time to get ready, but some are getting the rules in place earlier than they need to. These new rules include work requirements, where people ages 19-64 have to prove they are working in order to get Medicaid. The Washington Post reports that the applications of people with disabilities are being processed (going through the system to review them) a lot slower than usual, especially in Alaska, Wyoming, and Georgia. Many advocates said that H.R.1 would be bad for people with disabilities because of these reasons, and we are worried that many people with disabilities are currently losing their health coverage already.

AUCD Story Collection

AUCD is collecting stories from the Network on a variety of topics to amplify the effects of this Administration on real people and our programs. If you have a story, we want to hear it. 

We are interested in stories about: 

• Medicaid and its impact on people's lives 

• The impact of dismantling ACL 

• The important work of UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As

• The impact of zeroing out UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As  

• Impact of grants that are being cut

• Stories responding to RFK Jr.’s claims about autism or the autism registry 

You can use this link to provide information and let us know if you are comfortable sharing your story with Members of Congress and their staff. 

AUCD Policy Blog

AUCD invites Network members to fill out this form if you’re interested in writing for the AUCD policy blog. We are open to a variety of issues areas, and we will follow up with you as relevant issues come up that we’d like you to write about. 

Read our newest blog from Cobey Meyer on his IPSE experience.

Disability Policy for All with Liz

Join Liz on Instagram Reels, where she provides plain language updates on policy, highlighting current issues and hot topics in federal disability policy.

Liz Weintraub is AUCD's Senior Advocacy Specialist and the host of “Disability Policy for All with Liz.” She has extensive experience practicing leadership in self-advocacy and has held many board and advisory positions at state and national organizations, including the Council on Quality & Leadership (CQL) and the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council.

Watch Liz’s recent video on ABLE Bills.

Words to Know

Appropriations

Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use.

Reconciliation

This process can be used for bills that are about spending money. It can be used when the same political party (Republicans or Democrats) are in charge of the Senate, the House, and the Presidency.

Vaccines

Vaccines are shots with medicine that keep from getting sick.

Thimerosal

Thimerosal helps vaccines stay working for a long time so they will still work even after they have been stored in pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and hospitals for a while.