What you probably already know: The Trump administration’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year would dramatically alter federal housing assistance that millions of low-income Americans rely on. In its request to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the White House calls for a two-year limit on federal rental assistance programs for able-bodied adults. About 40% of funding for Section 8 and other housing voucher programs would also be cut and sent to states “to design their own rental assistance programs based on their unique needs and preferences.”
Why? HUD Secretary Scott Turner has said changes like those Trump proposed could eliminate waste and fraud in aid programs that have become "too bloated and bureaucratic to efficiently function.” The Trump administration has called HUD programs “dysfunctional” and argues that time limits on housing aid will free up more federal subsidies for the elderly and disabled. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that time limits could help fix long waitlists for HUD-subsidized housing. “HUD assistance is not supposed to be permanent,” Turner said. The proposed budget also includes $25 million in housing grants for young people soon to age out of the foster care system.
What it means: As of 2023, nearly half of renters in the U.S. were considered cost-burdened. The gap between the number of affordable housing units and people who need them continues to widen amid rising rates of homelessness and record-high rents. Under the current system, renters generally qualify for federal subsidies and vouchers as long as their income doesn’t exceed a HUD program’s designated limit. Studies show the average renter in HUD-subsidized housing stays about six years. New research from New York University found that a two-year cap could destabilize 1.4 million households — mostly working families with children — and lead to evictions. The researchers noted that a small number of housing authorities have experimented with imposing time limit policies. Most later removed them “either due to low uptake of time-limited programs, lack of capacity to administer or enforce them, or after determining that households reaching the end of their assistance periods still faced poverty, high rent burdens, and a high risk of housing instability.”
What happens next: The House and Senate subcommittees tasked with overseeing the HUD budget held multiple hearings, where Republican chairs expressed concern over the Trump administration’s proposed changes to housing assistance and questioned whether HUD could carry out its key objectives if the cuts were implemented. Appropriations committees in both chambers released their versions of HUD spending bills last month. Both call for increased funding for many programs, and neither includes Trump’s proposed two-year limit on aid. Congress will have the final say over the fiscal year 2026 budget.
