Trump Administration Releases FY26 Budget Request w/ Historic Cuts to HUD Programs – Take Action!
Jun 06, 2025
President Donald Trump and HUD Secretary Scott Turner released on May 30 the remaining details of their full fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget request. As indicated in the partial request released on May 2, the full budget request proposes a historic 44% cut to HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs, and would impose changes to rental and homelessness assistance that would leave more families struggling to afford rent, and at increased risk of homelessness.
See NLIHC's Updated Budget Chart
The president’s budget request is a step in the annual appropriations process and represents the President and his administration’s priorities – only Congress has the power to allocate federal funding, and ultimately it will be up to members of Congress to decide how to fund HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs in the coming fiscal year.
Appropriators in Congress have already begun drafting spending bills for FY26. House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) released the anticipated schedule for Appropriations subcommittees and the full committee to review and debate their 12 annual spending bills, a process known as “markup.” The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee is slated to markup their draft FY26 spending bill for HUD programs on July 14, with a full Appropriations Committee markup scheduled for July 17. The Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet announced the markup schedule for their draft FY26 spending bills, but Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) released a statement in response to the President’s budget request, noting the request would “eviscerate” HUD funding and “rip the roofs off Americans’ heads and put even more families at risk of homelessness.”
Additional funding needed for the Emergency Housing Voucher program
In addition to the need for increased funding in FY26 to cover the cost of renewals for HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, Congress will need to provide funding to ensure the 60,000 households who receive an Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) do not lose their assistance. The EHV program was created in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which provided $5 billion for 60,000 new tenant-based rental assistance vouchers specifically targeted to people experiencing or at immediate risk of homelessness, including people escaping intimate partner violence. 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, and wrap-around services when needed for long-term housing stability.
The EHV program has been extremely successful, helping almost 60,000 people and families – and 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 be depleted in 2026.
See NLIHC's Full Detailed Analysis
Take Action TODAY! Urge Congress to Expand – Not Cut – Funding for Vital Affordable Housing and Homelessness Programs
Use NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit and resources to take action on FY26 funding, including by:
- Using NLIHC’s new advocacy toolkit, “Opposing Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” to call on Congress to protect and expand affordable housing and homelessness resources. The toolkit includes talking points, advocacy materials, engagement ideas, and more resources for advocates to weigh-in with their members of Congress on the importance of these vital resources!
- 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 meaningful context to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact real 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 urging Congress to provide the highest possible funding for affordable housing, homelessness assistance, and community development resources in FY26.