In last week’s elections, Republicans won control of the White House and U.S. Senate. At the time of writing, control of the U.S. House of Representatives had yet to be decided: Democrats had 205 seats and Republicans had 214 seats, with 16 races yet to be called. At least 218 seats are needed to claim the House majority. Full Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress would have significant implications for affordable housing and homelessness policy, including funding for vital HUD rental and homelessness assistance programs.
Congress’s End-of-Year Priorities
Members of Congress return to their offices on Capitol Hill today (November 12) to begin the final stretch of the current congressional term, slated to end December 20. Before the term ends, lawmakers hope to pass a disaster recovery package to provide needed support to communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. They will also need either to finalize a fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill or enact another continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily extend current federal funding.
While earlier consensus suggested lawmakers would not have the capacity to negotiate and enact both a disaster aid package and final spending bill for FY25, the results of the election have thrown Congress’s timeline into doubt. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has opposed passing an “omnibus” spending bill – that is, a single large bill that combines all 12 federal spending bills – but the limited timeframe before the end of the congressional term will not allow for consideration of all 12 bills individually.
However, some Republicans are pushing for a “clean start” for the incoming Congress and Trump administration and would prefer that the work of the previous Congress be wrapped up before the new Congress begins. Democrats have signaled a willingness to reach a final agreement on an omnibus FY25 spending package before the December 20 deadline, but Speaker Johnson and other Republican congressional leaders will consult with incoming President Donald Trump on their strategy forward.
Forecasting 2025
Republican control of Congress and the White House would have significant implications for policies and funding related to HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs, in addition to other safety net and anti-poverty programs. During his previous administration, President Trump repeatedly called for massive cuts to HUD programs, including Housing Choice Vouchers, and eliminated some affordable housing development programs like the national Housing Trust Fund and the HOME Investments Partnership Program. The Trump administration also called for imposing unnecessary and burdensome requirements on HUD housing recipients, including increased work requirements and higher rent payments for households already struggling to make ends meet. It is likely his administration will continue pushing for these harmful policies in its new term.
In addition to attempting to drastically cut funding and impose additional barriers on households receiving HUD assistance, during its first term the Trump administration also worked to roll back the implementation of fair housing laws; threatened to evict families with mixed-immigration status from HUD assisted housing; and tried to block transgender people from accessing shelters in accordance with their gender identity. President Trump and his administration also worked to undermine evidence-based practices to end homelessness like Housing First, which prioritizes housing people experiencing homelessness and providing voluntary wrap-around services when needed for long-term housing stability. Instead, his administration called for ineffective, inhumane policies, including banning “urban camping,” creating “tent cities,” and incarceration.
With the expiration of the provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress will also aim to take up a massive tax package in the coming year. The tax package presents an opportunity to push forward important reforms to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program so that it better serves people with the lowest incomes, as well as rural and tribal areas. LIHTC is the largest federal program dedicated to constructing and preserving affordable rental homes, but on its own LIHTC-funded apartments are rarely affordable to people with the lowest incomes. NLIHC’s priority reforms to the program would make it easier for developers to afford to construct deeply affordable homes and to construct affordable housing in rural and tribal areas.
Take Action!
Join an organizational sign-on letter supporting the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act”
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 Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (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 often hardest hit and have the fewest resources to 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
Regardless of the timing of the disaster aid bill, Congress will need to enact a final FY25 spending bill to ensure federal programs – including HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs – receive increased funding in the coming year. Because the cost of housing and homelessness assistance rises every year, it is crucial that HUD receive increased funding every year to maintain the number of people served. 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.
Join NLIHC’s National HoUSed Call Today (November 12)
NLIHC will be hosting our National HoUSed Campaign call today (November 12) at 2:30-3:30pm ET. On today’s call, we will cover the potential impact of the election on affordable housing and homelessness policies, and the work NLIHC will continue to do to oppose any harmful proposals and expand access to housing assistance for people with the lowest incomes.
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/39mwjjy5