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The deadline to pass appropriations bills and avert a shutdown is closing in, and this year both parties are digging in. At issue is Trump’s insistence on keeping the power to withhold congressionally appropriated funds — a cudgel he’s wielded against ideological opponents. Democrats are pressing to protect healthcare subsidies. But the most explosive fight now centers on anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans riders woven into the appropriations bills. The provisions have become so central that Trump canceled a key negotiating session on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, Trump took to Truth Social with a rambling post announcing he would refuse to negotiate unless Democrats “agree to the principles in this letter.” Those “principles” included a slate of anti-trans measures — from bans on transgender healthcare to nationwide sports restrictions. By digging in, Trump has turned the shutdown fight into a test of whether Democrats will hold the line for their trans and queer constituents. You can see his post here:
Though Trump frames the fight around “transgender surgeries” and sports, the provisions buried in the appropriations bills go far beyond that — and could devastate transgender people nationwide. In the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill, one rider would ban “any federal funds” from supporting gender-affirming care at any age, even extending to “behavioral” or “social” care. A strict reading would immediately strip Medicaid and Medicare coverage for transgender people. A broader interpretation could threaten any hospital providing such care with the loss of federal funds — a step Trump has already attempted without statutory authority in the context of youth care. The same bill also tucks in a nationwide sports ban, removes protections for LGBTQ+ foster children, and even prohibits Pride flags.
The Commerce, Justice, and Science bill carries its own slate of riders: a ban on funding transgender surgeries in any federally owned, leased, or used facility, and a prison placement ban that would force transgender women into men’s jails. The Financial Services and General Government bill follows suit, barring coverage of transgender healthcare for federal employees and their families while undercutting D.C.’s protections for transgender care coverage.
One of the biggest fights this month came in the National Defense Authorization Act, which covers the U.S. military. Republicans forced votes on several anti-trans provisions, including a Pride flag ban, a bathroom ban on bases, and a TRICARE coverage ban for transgender dependents of servicemembers. Pushed by anti-trans congresswoman Rep. Nancy Mace, the measures made it into the final bill with the help of a handful of Democrats, and 17 Democrats crossed party lines to back the final NDAA bill despite its anti-LGBTQ+ riders.
Now that Trump has elevated these provisions, Democrats will be under pressure to fight for their LGBTQ+ — and especially their transgender — constituents. With a enough Democrats in the Senate able to filibuster, they have the power to block the funding bills until the riders are stripped, though doing so would trigger a shutdown. It’s shaping up as one of the biggest tests of Democratic commitment to LGBTQ+ people since the 2024 election. And it comes after their failure in last year’s NDAA fight, when they declined to allow a vote on removing a TRICARE ban for transgender youth. That provision ultimately made it into law, despite Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s attempt to strike it — a move blocked by her own party’s leadership.
Many political commentators say a shutdown is all but inevitable, though a short-term continuing resolution could delay the fight for a few months while both parties wrangle over poison pills and policy priorities. But if these anti-LGBTQ+ provisions make it through, they would lock some of the harshest restrictions on transgender people into federal law and hand Trump a stronger platform to target transgender healthcare and rights nationwide. Only if Democrats stand firm for their trans and queer constituents will this outcome be stopped.
This piece was republished with permission from Erin In The Morning.
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