House Republicans are calling for $13.7 billion in cuts from the Labor Department, Education Department, and Health and Human Services (LHHS) annual appropriations package in fiscal year 2026, Punchbowl News reported Monday.
Under their plan, funding for the Department of Labor would get cut by 28%, the Department of Education would incur 15% cuts, and HHS 6%, according to Punchbowl News.
The National Institutes of Health would be funded at its FY2025 level of $48 billion, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would get cut by $1.7 billion from the current fiscal year, according to the report.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has defended an FY2026 budget that follows a 25% reduction in the workforce, aimed at trimming bureaucracy.
The House's FY2025 LHHS appropriations bill proposed slashing around $11.1 billion from the Education Department budget. Nearly 50% of the Education workforce was furloughed or laid off in 2025.
The LHHS funding bill is one of 12 appropriations bills Congress must get passed by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. LHHS is the largest domestic non-defense appropriations bill, covering roughly 30% of all non-defense discretionary spending.
Congress will likely have to pass a short-term spending measure to keep the government funded for a few weeks or months while it tries to finish the full-year package. But Republicans would need Democrat votes to pass an extension, and Democrats will want significant concessions.
Since the modern budget process began in 1976, Congress has met the Sept. 30 deadline only four times, the last coming in FY1997.
More background
Specific program cuts were not detailed, but past proposals suggest that major education programs — including Title I grants to school districts, student aid, and afterschool initiatives — could be vulnerable.
Labor Department programs for worker training and safety may also be affected.
The House plan contrasts with the Senate’s draft LHHS bill, which would boost funding for research, child care, and mental health programs. With Congress facing that funding deadline, one possible outcome is a stopgap measure, setting up another partisan clash over spending priorities.
Information from Newsmax wires was used in this report.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.