FY26 USDA Appropriations Bill Approved in Legislation to Reopen Federal Government

On Wednesday night, President Trump signed funding legislation to end a 43-day federal government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. The measure’s passage allows federal operations to resume as of Thursday morning.

The package includes a three-bill “minibus” that funds the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Veteran Affairs and military construction projects, and the operations of Congress through the rest of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.

All other federal agencies and departments are funded through a continuing resolution at current funding levels until January 30, 2026.

The legislation provides $26.65 billion for USDA discretionary spending programs, nearly the same as FY25 funding levels and $3.65 billion more than the President’s Budget Request released earlier this year. Many rural housing programs funded under the bill will retain the same as or close to current FY25 levels.

Below is a breakdown of funding levels for key rural housing programs funded by the bill:

• The Section 502 Single-Family Housing Direct Loan Program will receive $1 billion, a $120 million or nearly 14 percent increase over FY25.
• The loan level for the Section 502 Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program will be $25 billion, the same as FY25.
• The Section 515 Multifamily Housing Direct Loan Program will receive $50 million, $10 million or nearly 17 percent less than FY25.
• The Section 538 Multifamily Housing Guaranteed Loan Program will receive $400 million, the same amount as in FY25.
• The Section 521 Rental Assistance Program will receive nearly $1.715 billion, an increase of nearly seven percent, or more than $107 million, from FY25. This amount will be used to cover renewals of existing rental assistance contracts. The bill also authorizes USDA to continue decoupling rental assistance from Section 515/516 properties with expiring mortgages, increasing the number of maximum eligible units to 5,000 (up from 1,000 in FY25).
• The Section 542 Rural Voucher Assistance Program will receive $48 million, equal to FY25.
• The Rental Preservation Demonstration Program (MPR) will receive $30 million, a $4 million or nearly 12 percent decrease from FY25.