Republican lawmakers are under increasing pressure from the White House to ensure that they block federal funding from going towards gender-affirming care for transgender people, as Congress works through the appropriations process.
The GOP frantically passed President Donald Trump’s reconciliation bill but without a provision that would have banned Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care due to the Senate’s budget rules. Conservatives had hoped that would have been the start of federal restrictions on care for transgender people and now, all eyes are on appropriators to put a ban in place through the process funding the government.
Now, at least six House appropriation bills for the 2026 fiscal year contain provisions to ban federal money from supporting gender-affirming care.