Congress has only until March 14 to enact a long overdue fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending agreement or the federal government will be forced into a partial shutdown. Appropriators had been hoping at least to reach a topline spending agreement for both defense and domestic accounts by the beginning of February, but the momentum for a deal was derailed after the Trump administration issued an Executive Order (EO) and subsequent memo on January 27 ordering a freeze on funding for thousands of federal programs.
While the memo was ultimately rescinded, it created chaos and uncertainty among lawmakers and recipients of federal grants and contracts, as well as individuals who rely on federal programs for everyday needs. The memo’s scope was so broad it threatened to cover nearly all federal programs, including HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs. A freeze on funding would have put programs that people and communities rely on – like homeless and domestic violence shelters, rental assistance, and housing for older adults and people with disabilities – at risk of shutting down.
In addition to the turmoil, the move sowed distrust between appropriators. “It is extremely difficult to agree to a compromise on anything if the White House is going to assert they control the funds, [and] we don’t,” said Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA). “So this is really putting that in jeopardy.”
Absent a final FY25 agreement by March 14, Congress will need to enact another continuing resolution (CR) to extend federal funding and avoid a partial shutdown of the federal government. Congress will have until the end of April to reach a final FY25 agreement; under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, failure to enact final FY25 spending bills will result in mandatory, across-the-board spending cuts, known as “sequestration.”
Take Action!
Urge Congress to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs
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.
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.
- $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.