American Music Therapy Association

AMTA Government Relations Update 4-26-25

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:

Members of Congress return to Washington, D.C. on Monday, April 28th, with a focus on fiscal year 2026 (FY26) appropriations. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is asking committees to “mark-up” their proposed budget bills beginning the week of May 5th, intending to complete budget votes by Memorial Day (May 26th). Although this is an ambitious timeline (21 days), it is important to understand that if the proposed budget cuts recently approved in the budget reconciliation bill are included in FY26 appropriations, many critical federal programs would be affected, negatively impacting millions of Americans.

 

Congressional leadership is working to implement the White House Administration's agenda, which would eliminate multiple federal programs. Information released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that over 30% of the HHS existing budget would be cut.

 

Sample List of Proposed Eliminations from HHS

• Administration for Community Living *
• Health Resources and Services Administration *
• Substance Use and Mental Health Administration *
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality *

*Some services from these entities will be moved to the newly proposed Administration for a Healthy America (AHA)

• Office for Civil Rights (some services will be moved to the newly proposed Assistant Secretary for Enforcement)
• Head Start
• CDC’s Prevention and Public Health Fund

 

This list is a small sample of the 127 proposed program eliminations in HHS.

 

Proposed Restructuring of the National Institutes of Health:

Elimination of:

• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine
• National Institute for Nursing Research
• National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities
• Retention of 3 existing Institutes:
• National Cancer Institute
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• National Institute on Aging

 

Proposed consolidation will move the remaining 20 Institutes and Centers within NIH to one of the 5 newly proposed institutes or outside of NIH:

• National Institute on Body Systems (NHYLBI, NIAMS, NIDDK)
• National Institute on Neuroscience and Brain Research (NIDCR, NINDS, NEI)
• National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS, NHGRI, NLM, NIBIB)
• National Institute of Disability Related Research (NICHD, NIDCD)
• National Institute of Behavioral Health (NIAA, NIDA, NIMH)

 

The following is taken directly from the Americans for the Arts Action Fund.

Congress is preparing to vote on a $9.3 billion FY25 rescissions package that would codify drastic budget cuts initiated by the administration through both Executive Orders and DOGE actions. The White House is expected to formally submit the request by the end of April, with floor votes beginning as early as the week of May 5. This package specifically targets funding for U.S. foreign aid and appropriations to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which includes funding for NPR and PBS. 

Under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, Congress only has 45 days to pass a rescissions bill, which must be fast-tracked and only requires a simple majority to pass the House and Senate. In other words, the Senate needs only 51 votes (instead of 60 votes) to pass because a rescissions bill cannot be filibustered. In order to block this rescissions package from moving forward, a handful of Republicans in either the House or the Senate have to vote against the package to protect vital programs.

For more details, please visit the April 23, 2025, Americans for the Arts Action Fund update:

 

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Use AMTA’s VoterVoice platform to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative and ask them to do the following:

1. Vote NO on the FY25 Rescissions Package proposal
2. Vote NO on proposed Medicaid cuts
3. Vote to keep the Department of Education, HHS, NIH, CDC, and other critical federal programs in place.
4. Represent your constituents by upholding the U.S. Constitution and enforcing the balance of powers within the three branches of the federal government.

 

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