The Big Picture
On July 14, 2025, the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development favorable passed its proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Budget appropriations for the federal transportation and housing agencies, also known as the T-HUD budget.
Despite concerns of potentially drastic cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Subcommittee opted to propose a relatively flat budget from FY 2025. The subcommittee instead proposed a budget of $67.75 billion, about $937 million less than FY 2025 enacted funding levels. Most of the proposed cuts are on staff salaries, resulting largely from Trump Administration buy out programs and layoffs.
The subcommittee also did not include some of the White House recommendations that would add additional work requirements for vouchers, as well as ones that would combine funding for housing programs into block grants. This had the potential to significantly reduce funding allocations state-to-state.
Deeper Dive – Programmatic Funding
The subcommittee-maintained level funding for the Community Black Grant Development Program (CBDG). The budget also included a slight increase to $37 million for project based housing programs (PBRA) and $17.12 billion for tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) – including funding to renew all existing Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) contracts, $4.9 billion for HUD’s Homelessness Assistance Grant (HAG) Program and $296 million for the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Health Homes.
The budget notably does propose zeroing out funding for the HOME Investment Partnerships, as the account has a remaining unspent $5 billion at HUD. The committee also did not request funding for the Pathways to Removing Obstacles in Housing (PRO Housing), which closely aligns with the Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) bill long supported by the National Apartment Association (NAA).
While the proposed HUD funding levels are much better than had originally been suggested, it is important to note that this is still early in the federal appropriations process – which will not conclude until September 30, 2025. The House T-HUD budget proposal now heads to a full committee mark up on Thursday, July 17, 2025, where it is expected to be passed out of committee along partisan lines. The T-HUD budget will then be eligible for a House floor vote at the Speaker’s discretion.
Simultaneously, the U.S. Senate will be going through its own appropriations process, with the hope that both chambers will find a compromise and ensure a federal budget for FY 2026.
Over the coming weeks and months, NAA will remain closely engaged in the Congressional appropriations process. NAA and our industry partners recently sent a letter to appropriators requesting full funding for programs that focus on housing affordability including Choice Voucher Program (HCV), Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), Homelessness Programs, HOME, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and Rural Housing programs.
As NAA continues to work with Congress to ensure that our members’ priorities are accurately reflected in the final appropriations, we highly encourage all interested parties to evaluate these proposed budget appropriations and let your elected officials know that the funding math works for you. NAA is here as a resource to help with any appropriations questions or concerns. If we can be of any help navigating this process, please feel free to reach out to us at publicpolicy@naahq.org.