Current Housing News Highlights
Week of March 17, 2025
This past week has been a busy time for everyone in the affordable housing community. With the threat of a government shutdown looming, the Senate rushed to pass a government spending bill on Friday, March 14th. This spending bill was opposed by many democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to support the bill has been widely criticized. Additionally, proposed cuts to personnel and funding of federal housing programs threaten to remove critical services from the most vulnerable populations. Housing Up believes information can empower us to enact change. However, it can be overwhelming to keep up to date with the constant stream of news. Below we have compiled a summary of the most important current housing news. Thanks to our friends at National Low Income Housing Coalition’s for most of these updates.
On March 11, Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Jack Reed (D-RI) sent a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, Scott Turner. The bipartisan letter was written in response to the announcement that HUD may be closing nearly two-thirds of their state field offices. Senators urged Turner to reconsider these closures, arguing that local HUD offices provide critical support to their communities.
Congress recently passed a year-long stopgap funding bill, which was signed into law by President Trump. This bill, referred to as a continuing resolution, will cut $13 billion in funding, while increasing the budget for a few select federal programs. HUD is set to receive increased funding of $4.6 billion for several key programs. While this increase in the HUD budget is positive, funding for other critical HUD programs has been significantly cut or remains on level with the previous year. Additionally, the bill authorizes the HUD Secretary to repurpose funds for Continuum of Care grant renewals instead of increasing funding to the Homelessness Assistance Grants program. This decision is expected to leave HUD’s homelessness assistance programs short by $168 million.
The Senate recently passed a continuing resolution, which would lead to a $1 billion cut to DC’s local budget. This cut is largely attributed to a mistake of leaving DC out of the language in the bill. The Senate has approved a new version of this bill, but it will be up to the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, to raise the issue in Congress next week. If the bill is not approved in Congress, the funding decrease would have devastating effects on critical services in DC.
Late on March 14, the new administration announced an Executive Order (EO) calling for the elimination of “the non-statutory components and functions” of several federal agencies and departments. Included in this EO were the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) fund. USICH is the only federal agency solely dedicated to eradicating homelessness and plays a key role in coordinating the federal response to homelessness throughout departments and agencies. The CDFI fund is designed to support underserved communities and provides grants to nonprofits for the development of affordable housing. These proposed cuts will likely reduce government efficiency and undermine the federal response to homelessness.
American Housing and Economic Mobility Act
In response to the affordable housing crisis, several democratic senators reintroduced the “American Housing and Economic Mobility Act”. The bill aims to build almost 3 million new housing units, invest billions into housing funds that support low-income and middle-class households, and enhance anti-discrimination laws. In addition, this legislation focuses on investing in underserved communities and reforming land-use restrictions that create unnecessary barriers to housing.
Fair Housing Groups Sue HUD and Doge
Four fair housing organizations filed a lawsuit on March 13 against HUD and DOGE. This lawsuit comes in response to HUD’s sudden termination of grants to these organizations. The termination of these grants was ordered by DOGE, in their efforts to decrease unnecessary government spending. When asked why these grants were terminated, HUD stated that the grants no longer serve the “program goals or agency priorities”. The plaintiffs argue that DOGE does not have legal authority to direct HUD to terminate grant contracts.
Other News
Housing Shortage of 7.1 Million Homes
NLIHC Interim CEO Testifies before Senate Banking Committee
NLIHC Endorses Senate Bills Introduced in Congress
William Pulte Confirmed as new Director of Federal Housing Finance Agency
Zoning Policies Lead to Greater Racial and Socioeconomic Segregation