Members of the U.S. Congress returned to their offices on Capitol Hill on November 12 with only a few weeks left to reach a final agreement on fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending before current government funding expires on December 20. Earlier speculation suggested that Congress might pass another short-term funding bill – known as a “continuing resolution” (CR) – that would last until February or March 2025. However, with Republicans now poised to control both chambers of Congress as well as the White House in 2025, some are pushing to finalize an FY25 spending bill before the end of the year to give the new Congress and administration a clean slate for the new term.
Appropriations leaders – including Senate Committee on Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) – have voiced support for finalizing the FY25 spending bills before December 20 but will need to reach a topline spending agreement before Congress adjourns for the Thanksgiving break at the end of next week. However, due to the lack of time before the current Congress concludes, appropriators are restricted from moving an “omnibus” spending bill, which would include all 12 annual federal spending bills combined into one package. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has in the past opposed omnibus spending measures and is instead working with the newly elected incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and President-elect Donald Trump to strategize on Republicans’ path forward. Speaker Johnson and soon-to-be Majority Leader Thune have floated the idea of passing a year-long CR instead of enacting a new FY25 spending bill.
Such long-term CRs have a devastating impact on affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs. CRs maintain spending levels from the previous fiscal year, but because the cost of affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs rises every year, increased annual funding for HUD programs is required simply to maintain the number of people served by these vital programs.
Take Action!
Urge Congress to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs by December 20
Advocates can use NLIHC’s resources to take action today and push Congress to pass increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness in FY25, including for NLIHC’s top priorities:
- Full funding to renew all existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program and expand assistance to 20,000 more households.
- $6.2 billion for public housing operations and $5.2 billion for public housing capital needs.
- $4.7 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program.
- $100 million for the Eviction Protection Grant Program.
- At least $1.3 billion for Tribal housing programs, plus $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
Use NLIHC’s toolkits and resources to take action on FY25 funding, including by:
- Emailing or calling members’ offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources to you, your family, your community, or your work. You can use NLIHC’s Take Action page to look up your member offices or call/send an email directly!
- Sharing stories of those directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability. Storytelling adds emotional weight to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact actual people. Learn about how to tell compelling stories with this resource.
- Using our “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing” toolkit: This toolkit includes resources, talking points, advocacy ideas, and other helpful information on defending funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources in the FY25 federal budget. Meet with your members and urge them to provide the most possible funding for these vital programs in any final FY25 budget agreement!
National, state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,300 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY25.