Congress Must Provide Sufficient Funding for Vouchers in FY26 to Continue Assisting 60,000 Households Served Through EHV Program – Take Action!

The May 2 release of President Donald Trump’s “skinny” budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2026 signaled the beginning of the federal FY26 appropriations cycle. While the Trump Administration’s full budget request is expected out in June, Appropriators will begin their work divvying up funding for federal programs, including HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs, for FY26. Appropriators will need to enact a new budget by October 1, the beginning of FY26.  

The president’s “skinny” budget request proposes an historic cut of 44% to HUD overall, including cutting HUD rental assistance programs by 43%, combining five different rental assistance programs into one State Rental Assistance Block Grant, and imposing a two-year time limit on receiving assistance. If enacted, this proposal would result in a historic loss of housing assistance.  

Importantly, the president’s budget request – “skinny” or not – represents the wishes and priorities of the president and his Administration; it is not a mandate, and only Congress has the power to appropriate funding for federal programs. While there is reportedly little interest among members of Congress in block granting HUD’s rental assistance programs, appropriators have a steep road ahead to securing sufficient funding to ensure the renewal of all existing housing vouchers in FY26. The final FY25 spending bill for HUD programs underfunded HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, and over time, is expected to result in a loss of 32,000 HCVs through turnover. In addition to the cost of renewing existing vouchers, in FY26 Congress should provide sufficient funding to make up for the gap left by the FY25 spending bill.  

It is also vital that Congress provide sufficient funding to continue existing assistance under HUD’s Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program. The EHV program was created in the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” which provided $5 billion for 70,000 new tenant-based rental assistance vouchers specifically targeted to people experiencing or at immediate risk of homelessness, including people escaping intimate partner violence or human trafficking. The EHV program mandates that public housing authorities (PHAs), which are responsible for administering the program, work with their local Continuums of Care (CoCs) to identify people and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness and connect them to an EHV, plus wrap-around services when needed for long-term housing stability.  

The EHV program has been extremely successful and currently helps almost 60,000 households – in particular families with children – find and maintain stable housing. While funding for the program was originally slated to last until 2030, the rapid increase in the cost of rent over the last four years has caused funding to run out much more quickly than expected. Unless additional funding is allocated by Congress, HUD estimates that funding for the program will likely run out in 2026.  

Take Action  

As Congress beings their work on FY26, NLIHC will continue to monitor developments and provide updated materials for advocates to take action and demand increased funding for HUD’s vital programs in any final FY26 spending bill.  
 
Urge Congress to pass a FY26 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs! 

Advocates can use NLIHC’s toolkits and resources to take action on FY26 funding, including by: 

• Using the “Reject Housing Cuts and EHV Funding Cliff: Action Toolkit” for talking points, resources, advocacy ideas, and more! Developed in partnership with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, National Alliance to End Homelessness, and National Housing Law Project, the toolkit will be updated as additional information and resources become available. 
• 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. 

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 FY26.