Members of Congress left their offices on Capitol Hill on November 22 for a week-long Thanksgiving recess and are slated to return on December 2 for the final session of the 118th Congress. Upon their return, lawmakers will have until December 20 – just three weeks – to negotiate and pass a disaster aid package, as well as another continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding into the new year and avert a partial shutdown of the federal government.
Disaster Aid
The Biden administration sent a proposal for a disaster aid package to Congress on November 18, calling for almost $100 billion in funding to aid recovery efforts in communities impacted by recent disasters, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the wildfires that devastated Maui last year. The administration’s request includes $40 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) immediate response efforts, and $12 billion for HUD’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, which funds housing and other long-term rebuilding efforts.
Using the administration’s request as a guide, congressional leaders will work during the Thanksgiving break to reach an agreement on and draft disaster aid legislation. During a U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on November 20, members expressed bipartisan support for a disaster recovery bill and for potentially increasing the size of the package above the $100 billion included in the administration’s request. Senator Jack Reed (R-RI) encouraged his colleagues to including funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) funded program that helps low-income households afford home heating and cooling costs. However, any debate or vote on a prospective bill will not occur until after the Thanksgiving recess.
Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD), argued that Congress should also use the disaster bill as an opportunity to make needed improvements to the federal disaster recovery response, including by permanently authorizing HUD’s CDBG-DR program. The lack of authorization delays vital resources from reaching disaster-impacted communities and households: every time Congress approves funds for the program to address specific disasters, HUD must publish a unique set of program requirements, slowing down the flow of funds to those in need.
FY25 Appropriations
With the end of the 118th Congress just weeks away and no final topline spending agreement between the House and Senate, hopes for passing a comprehensive FY25 spending bill by December 20 are dwindling. “I would still love an approps deal. That’s probably not possible,” said House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK). House and Senate Appropriations leads had hoped to reach a topline spending agreement by November 22, but Congress adjourned for recess without an agreement in place and may not have the time to negotiate, draft, and pass an FY25 spending bill. Senate Appropriations Committee Vice-Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) also acknowledged Congress “may have to do a short CR,” despite appropriators’ desire to reach a final agreement before December 20. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been consulting with President-elect Donald Trump on Republicans’ plan forward for FY25 and FY26 appropriations, but no decisions have been announced.
Absent a final deal, Congress will need to pass another short-term CR to extend appropriated funding from FY24 into the new year, likely until February or March. Lawmakers must pass a final FY25 spending bill by the end of April 2025 or will face across-the-board spending cuts to both defense and domestic programs (known as “sequestration”). Insufficient funding, budget cuts, and 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 to simply maintain the number of people served by these vital programs.
Take Action!
Join an organizational sign-on letter urging Congress to permanently authorize CDBG-DR in the disaster aid package!
The disaster aid package represents an opportunity for Congress to enact the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” (RDRA) into law. The RDRA – a priority for NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition – is a bipartisan bill that would permanently authorize HUD’s CDBG-DR program, which provides states, tribes and communities with flexible, long-term recovery resources needed to rebuild affordable housing and infrastructure after a disaster. The bill also provides important safeguards and tools to ensure federal disaster recovery efforts reach all impacted households, including the lowest-income and most marginalized survivors, who are often hardest hit and have the fewest resources for recovery.
Organizations can join over 500 other organizations from around the country on a sign-on letter from NLIHC, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and Enterprise calling on Congress to enact the RDRA.
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.