The President’s proposal to slash roughly 43% of funding for federal housing programs, like Section 8 vouchers, could have devastating effects for millions of Americans, as the country already faces a housing supply and affordability crisis. The 2026 “skinny budget” proposal, released May 2nd, calls for $26.7 billion in cuts to Section 8 and other housing assistance programs. A new grant, the State Rental Assistance Block Grant, would reallocate the remaining funds for these programs to states to develop their own initiatives. The cuts would affect tenant-based and project-based rental assistance programs, as well as public housing, housing for the elderly, and housing for people with disabilities.
The cuts to federal housing programs would affect about 3.8 million people and worsen the country’s housing crisis, said Eric Oberdorfer, director of policy and legislative affairs at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, a professional membership organization and advocacy group. “We are obviously in a significant housing affordability and supply crisis right now, and now is the time to support affordable housing programs,” he said. “Devastating cuts like those proposed in the budget [for] public housing or to Section 8 would directly hurt families, communities and local economies.”
Federal rental assistance programs currently help about 10 million people afford housing, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Of that, 2 million receive Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance. From January 2023 until January 2024, homelessness surged by 18% to the highest level on record, partially driven by increasing rent costs and a lack of affordable housing.
Katie Fallon, a principal policy associate at the Urban Institute, said the planned cuts could exacerbate a housing situation that is already grim for millions and is likely to affect the number of new affordable housing units available.
Read the May 6, 2025 Washington Post article.
Read the 2026 "Skinny Budget" proposal.
(Image by freepik.com.)
