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

CBPP: Low Income Programs Shortchanged

A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) analyzes how the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations allocated the $33 billion in funds for nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs made available by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The report concludes that…

2015 Tax Breaks Increase Deficit Projections, Hearings Set

“In 2016, the federal budget deficit will increase, in relation to the size of the economy, for the first time since 2009,” the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated in a summary of a semi-annual report, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2016 to 2026. CBO now predicts the federal deficit will…

New Infographics Illustrate Federal Budget

The Congressional Budget Office has released a set of infographics on FY15 spending and revenues and revenue and spending trends since FY95. The graphics show breakouts of the $3.7 trillion in federal spending and the $3.2 trillion in revenues in FY15. They depict federal revenues and discretionary…