Congress Passes and President Trump Signs into Law Year-Long Stopgap Funding Bill Underfunding Vital HUD Programs
Mar 17, 2025
Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law a year-long stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to extend funding for the federal government through September. The CR extends funding levels provided for federal programs in the previous year’s FY24 funding bill through the remainder of FY25, and provides funding increases for a limited number of key programs. See NLIHC’s updated budget chart for full details.
Overall, the bill will cut $13 billion in domestic spending from the previous fiscal year, while also proposing funding adjustments for some federal programs, including an additional $6 billion in defense spending and an additional $4.6 billion for some key HUD programs:
$32.14 billion to renew contracts under HUD’s Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program, a $3.65 billion increase from the previous fiscal year. This increase is likely not sufficient to cover the needed cost of voucher renewals, and is projected to result in an estimated loss of 32,000 vouchers from the program upon turnover.
$16.89 billion for HUD’s Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program, an $880 million increase from FY24.
$931.4 million for Section 202, an $18.4 million increase from the last fiscal year. Section 202 provides affordable, accessible housing and supportive services for older adults.
$256.7 million for Section 811, an increase of $48.7 million from the previous fiscal year. Section 811 provides affordable, accessible housing and supportive services to help people with disabilities live in communities, rather than institutionalized settings.
Rather than calling for additional funding for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program, the CR gives the HUD Secretary the authority to “repurpose funds made available” for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds program to instead fund CoC renewals. A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the CoC Builds program was released last year, but the funds were never awarded. This maneuver is expected to shortfall HUD’s homeless assistance programs by an estimated $168 million.
$3.43 billion for HUD’s Community Development Fund, a $3.29 billion cut from the previous fiscal year. Most of the funding lost is the result of lost “earmarks,” or congressionally requested funding for community development projects.
The bill does not provide additional spending for disaster recovery, nor does it address the looming early summer deadline to raise the federal debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default on the national debt.
The House passed the bill along a mostly party-line vote on March 11, with just one Democrat voting in-favor and one Republican voting against. The Senate took up the bill on March 14; after Senate Democrats first vowed to oppose the bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) relented and agreed to vote for the bill to avoid a partial shutdown of the federal government. The bill needed to find support from at least eight Senate Democrats in order to overcome the Senate’s filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes in order for a bill to pass the chamber; ten Democratic Senators voted to move the bill forward in a procedural vote known as “cloture,” allowing the bill to ultimately pass the Senate by a vote of 54-46, with just three Democrats – Majority Leader Schumer, and Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Angus King (I-AK) – voting in favor of the bill itself, and one Republican, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), voting against.
Details of the Final FY25 CR
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
The bill provides a total of $32.14 billion for tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) contract renewals. This funding is $3.6 billion higher than the funding for TBRA voucher renewals provided in the previous fiscal year, and higher than either the House or Senate’s proposed FY25 budgets. While this funding increase is welcome, it is likely not sufficient to cover the needed cost of voucher renewals, and is projected to cost the program an estimated 32,000 vouchers upon turnover. Already, rental assistance programs are so underfunded that only one in four households who are income qualified to receive assistance actually get the assistance they need; a loss of vouchers represents a step backwards in the fight for expanding the program to every qualified household.
The bill also provides level funding for administrative fees for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) responsible for administering TBRA, and level funding for Tenant Protection Vouchers ($337 million), Section 811 Mainstream vouchers ($743 million), Tribal Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers ($7.5 million), Family Unification vouchers ($30 million), and incremental vouchers ($15 million). This funding would go toward the creation of new vouchers under these programs, but the CR also gives the HUD Secretary authority to reallocate funding from these accounts if needed to prevent a shortfall in funding to renew current voucher contracts.
Project-Based Rental Housing
The bill provides $16.89 billion to renew Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) contracts, an increase of $880 million from FY24 funding levels, and more than either the House or Senate draft bill would have provided; it is expected this level may be sufficient to cover the cost of renewals.
Public Housing
The bill provides the public housing capital account with $3.4 billion, level-funding from the previous fiscal year, and more than the funding provided in either the House or Senate draft bills for FY25. Funding to operate public housing remained level from the previous year, at $5.5 billion, and more than what would have been provided in either the House or Senate proposals. Housing agencies rely on additional resources every year to maintain services and make critical repairs to improve living conditions for the millions of people who call public housing “home.” Generations of disinvestment by Congress have allowed public housing to fall into disrepair, creating a capital needs backlog in public housing of more than $70 billion.
Homelessness
Rather than providing additional funding for HUD’s vital HAG program, the CR grants the HUD Secretary the authority to “repurpose funds made available” for the CoC Builds program to instead fund CoC renewals. A NOFO for the CoC Builds program was released last year, but funding was never awarded. This maneuver is expected to shortfall HUD’s homeless assistance programs by an estimated $168 million, and may endanger the housing stability and services of over 18,000 people on the verge of or experiencing homelessness.
Native Housing
The bill provides level funding for the Native American Housing Block Grant program ($1.1 billion), and for a competitive tribal housing program ($150 million). While the House and Senate proposed level funding for the competitive program, both chambers provided more funding for the block grant program than what was included in the final bill. The Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program will also receive level funding, $22 million, in the final bill. Significant federal investments are required to help Tribes address the dire housing needs of Indian Country, where residents are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty and nearly three times more likely to live in overcrowded conditions compared to other U.S. households.
Other Housing Programs
The bill provides $931 million for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program, an increase of $18 million from the previous year’s enacted levels. The bill also provides a $48 million increase for the Section 811 Housing for People with Disabilities program, to $256 million in FY25.
The bill maintains $3.3 billion in formula funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program; the funding decrease can be solely attributed to the loss of “earmarks,” or congressionally requested funding for community development projects.
The CR preserves the $100 million set-aside within the CDBG program for the PRO-Housing competition, which provides state and local governments with incentives to adopt less restrictive zoning and land use laws that allow for the development of more affordable housing.
The bill provides $1.25 billion for the HOME Investments Partnerships (HOME) program, level funding from the previous fiscal year. This is $200 million less than the Senate’s budget proposal, but $750 million more than the House’s requested funding level.
The bill provides $10 million for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program, first funded in the FY23 appropriations bill to provide grants to preserve and vitalize manufactured housing communities.
The Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program is level-funded at $505 million, as is the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative program, which will be provided $75 million in FY25. The bill also preserves the $20 million provided to HUD’s Eviction Prevention Grant program (EPGP), which provides communities with funding for legal aid programs to prevent evictions. Preserving EPGP funding is a priority for NLIHC.
The Family Self-Sufficiency program is funded at $141 million, level-funding from the previous fiscal year.
Healthy Homes
The bill allocates $345 million to the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ grants, level funding from the previous year.
Fair Housing
The bill includes $86 million in funding for HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, level funding compared to FY24.
US Interagency Council on Homelessness
The bill would provide level funding for the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), $4 million. USICH is responsible for helping coordinate the federal response to homelessness across agencies. The White House released on March 14 an Executive Order attempting to eliminate USICH and several other federal agencies; however, the program has been authorized and funded by Congress, and attempts to withhold funding for USICH would likely run afoul of laws prohibiting the White House and administration from refusing to administer Congressionally-approved funding.
Outlook for FY26 Funding
With the CR signed into law, Congress will now turn its attention to funding the federal government in FY26, which begins on October 1. During his previous term, President Trump proposed massive cuts to HUD’s budget, but these proposals were not ultimately taken up by Congress and enacted into law. NLIHC is anticipating additional threats to funding for HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs, and will be releasing updated resources soon to help advocates take action and fight against any proposed cuts.