Federal Budget & Spending

Despite a proven track record, federal housing programs are chronically underfunded. Just one in four households eligible for federal housing assistance actually receive the help they need, leaving the rest to struggle to afford the cost of rent. 

Expanding resources available to help people with the lowest incomes find and maintain safe, stable, affordable, accessible housing depends on increasing federal appropriations. NLIHC monitors the federal budget process and advocates for the highest possible allocation of resources at HUD and the USDA Rural Housing Service to support deeply affordable housing and homelessness resources. 

NLIHC is also a Steering Committee member of the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding, a coalition of over 75 national organizations working together to ensure robust resources to address America's housing crisis. Learn more here.

Budget Trends

image-20231031140827-1Fact of the Week: Housing Assistance Budget Authority as a Share of GDP Has Declined Precipitously, Spending Relatively Consistent, Since the 1970's
 
Budget Analysis for Fiscal Year 2026

NLIHC FY26 Budget Chart for Key HUD Programs (Updated 7/25/25)

Budget Analysis for Fiscal Year 2025

NLIHC FY25 Budget Chart for Key HUD Programs (Updated 7/25/24)

Budget Analysis for Fiscal Year 2024 

NLIHC FY24 Budget Chart for Key HUD Programs (Updated 3/3/24)

Budget Analysis for Fiscal Year 2023 

NLIHC FY23 Budget Chart for Key HUD Programs (Updated 12/19/22)

Additional Resources 

For more information on Budget and Appropriations, contact Kim Johnson, Policy Manager, at [email protected].

Memo to Members and Partners Articles

Trump proposes severe budget cuts to HUD and USDA. Act Now!

Trump proposes severe budget cuts to HUD and USDA. Act now! Join us for a webinar on Wednesday, May 31 at 3pm ET Register Today for this Webinar! President Trump’s FY18 budget request – released today – proposes to slash federal investments in affordable housing and other essential…

Oppose Harmful Policy Riders and Budget Cuts in FY18 Spending Bills

Sign your organization onto a letter from the Clean Budget Coalition (CBC) —a group of more than 100 organizations—telling Congress to reject harmful poison-pill policy riders in the FY18 spending bills and a separate letter from the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) urging Congress to pass a clean…

Trump FY18 Budget Calls for Massive Cuts to Affordable Housing Programs

A copy of President Trump’s 2018 budget for HUD was leaked on May 19. The leaked budget would slash funding for affordable housing programs that millions of low income seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, veterans, and low wage workers depend on. In a press statement, NLIHC…

Democratic Lawmakers Urge Congress to Raise Spending Caps

Democratic lawmakers urged their colleagues to come to a bipartisan agreement to raise federal spending caps equally for defense and nondefense programs for FY18. Without an agreement, the cap on non-defense discretionary spending will fall to $515 billion, $3 billion below FY17 levels. This could…