From DC: Court Temporarily Blocks HUD Funding Cuts, House Extends ACA Tax Credits, and more

January 9, 2026

From DC is Justice in Aging's weekly roundup of national news and resources about issues impacting older adults. To receive From DC in your inbox as soon as its published, sign up for our mailing list.

Here’s what we’re watching in Washington:

Updates on HUD’s Efforts to Overhaul Homelessness Funding

In late December, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction in litigation over the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s efforts to overhaul its primary homeless assistance program.

HUD is seeking to upend the Continuum of Care (CoC) program by slashing funds for permanent supportive housing (PSH) and enacting other sweeping changes around homelessness funding. The court’s order temporarily blocks HUD from proceeding with these proposals.

Congress, meanwhile, is still considering measures to renew current CoC grants for another 12 months as part of an appropriations bill. Extending current grants would ensure stability for the CoC program this year and delay any harmful changes.

Advocacy with Congress remains crucial. HUD’s proposed cuts to PSH would disproportionately harm older adults, who are the fastest-growing group among people experiencing homelessness. Read more in our blog about the need to save PSH for older adults, and urge Congress today to protect PSH and CoC funding.

House Takes Action on ACA Tax Credits

This week, 17 Republicans joined all 213 Democrats in the House of Representatives to pass a bill to extend the Affordable Care Act Marketplace enhanced premium tax credits (ePTCs) for three years.

The ePTCs expired on December 31st, resulting in steep cost increases for low- and moderate-income older adults and families who buy their health insurance on the Marketplaces. The three-year extension continues to face an uphill battle in the Senate, as a bipartisan group of Senators is discussing potential compromises.

Use the Coalition on Human Needs tool to write your Senators and ask them to pass a clean extension of the ePTCs.

Federal Court Allows Certain Immigrants’ Medicaid Data to be Shared with DHS

The U.S. District Court of Northern California has permitted limited data sharing between the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), denying in part and granting in part plaintiff states’ renewed request for a preliminary injunction preventing the sharing of immigrants’ private information. This development impacts the 20 states that sued over the data sharing.

As a result, CMS may now provide data to DHS on certain Medicaid enrollees who are not lawfully residing in the United States. This data can include highly personal information, such as citizenship and immigration status, address and telephone number, and date of birth.

However, CMS is still blocked from sharing Medicaid data for citizens and lawfully present individuals and cannot share data from other Health and Human Services (HHS) programs. DHS is also blocked from using data they may have previously obtained from CMS unless the data satisfies these new requirements.

The new preliminary injunction is in place until the litigation is over or 14 days after new federal policies are issued explaining the legal and policy basis for sharing such data between HHS and DHS, whichever comes first.

For more information about Medicaid data sharing and other issues impacting older immigrants, see our webinar recording.

Congressional Hearing on Medicare Legislation

The House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee held a hearing on Thursday to consider several Medicare bills, including two bills that would advance Justice in Aging’s priorities.

The bipartisan Senior Savings Protection Act (H.R. 6210/S. 2466) would provide a five-year extension of funding for outreach and enrollment assistance for low-income Medicare enrollees. Another bill introduced by Rep. McClellan (D-VA), H.R. 5243, would increase data transparency for supplemental benefits under Medicare Advantage.