What Happened?

Hundreds of small flood control, shore protection, and ecosystem restoration projects that cities and counties rely on for federal help are on hold this year. The Trump administration chose not to fund most of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' continuing authorities programs (CAPs) through regular annual spending in fiscal 2025, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the nonpartisan agency that provides research to Congress.

The CAPs are a set of nine programs that let the Army Corps partner with local governments on smaller water and infrastructure projects without needing a separate act of Congress each time. The federal government typically covers 65 percent of a project's cost, with the local sponsor, a city, county, or nonprofit, picking up the remaining 35 percent. Most projects are capped at $15 million in federal costs.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

If your community has been waiting on Army Corps help to fix a flood-prone neighborhood, protect a shoreline, or restore a local waterway, that partnership may be stalled. Without the federal cost-sharing that CAPs provide, most local governments cannot afford to move forward on their own.

The administration did carve out one exception: $23 million for a single project in Camp Ellis, Saco, Maine. It also directed nearly $100 million in supplemental funds to flood-related CAP projects under separate legal authority. But the CRS report found that for most of the nine programs, no regular annual funding was allocated.

Both Sides, Now

The administration has proposed a 23 percent cut to the Army Corps' overall budget for fiscal 2026, which would reduce the agency's spending by about $2.04 billion, bringing it to $6.663 billion. Supporters of the cuts argue that scaling back federal agency budgets reduces government spending overall.

Opponents, including many local governments that depend on cost-sharing to complete infrastructure projects, say the funding gap leaves communities without a federal partner for work they cannot finance alone. The CRS report also flagged a transparency problem: there is little public data on how long CAP projects take, what gets accomplished with the money, or how many local sponsors are seeking help.

Congress has a role here too. Pending legislation, including H.R. 9497 and a Senate companion bill, would reportedly authorize new CAPs for flood control improvements and drought resiliency, and would streamline the environmental review process for CAP projects. Whether those bills advance is up to Congress.

What Happens Next?

The fiscal 2026 budget proposal, which includes the 23 percent Army Corps cut, still requires congressional approval. Lawmakers on the appropriations committees will decide whether to accept, modify, or reject that reduction. The pending Water Resources Development Act bills in both chambers would also expand and simplify the CAP system, but neither has been signed into law. Until Congress acts on spending and authorizations, most CAP projects remain without a clear path to federal funding.

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