Join CHCDF’s National Day of Action on February 27 to Demand a Final FY25 Spending Bill with Significant Increases for Affordable Housing and Homelessness Services!

NLIHC is joining our partners in the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) for a National Day of Action on February 27. Advocates around the country should contact their members of Congress on February 27 to demand a final fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs! Use our “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing” toolkit for resources, talking points, advocacy ideas, and other helpful information about defending funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources in the FY25 federal budget. 

Despite some progress on a topline funding number for an FY25 spending agreement, negotiations between congressional appropriators have reached another stumbling block with a March 14 funding deadline quickly approaching. Congress has until March 14 to reach an agreement on FY25 spending, as well as draft, negotiate, and pass legislative text. Without an agreement, lawmakers will need to pass another continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government funded or risk a partial shutdown.  

With so much to do in limited time, appropriations leaders are discussing another short-term CR lasting until early- or mid-April. Negotiations have also hit another stumbling block, this time over a provision Senate Appropriations Committee Vice-Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) want to add to any FY25 spending bill that would guarantee the White House is unable to refuse to release congressionally appropriated funding, also known as “impounding funds,” or “impoundment.” While impoundment is already illegal under the “Impoundment Control Act of 1974,” the Trump Administration has repeatedly attempted – in some cases, successfully – to freeze funding already approved by Congress. The infamous (and rescinded) January 27 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo issuing a freeze on all federal grants and contracts sowed distrust among appropriators, significantly setting back budget negotiations.  

Rather than finalizing a FY25 spending bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) are pushing instead for a year-long CR that would provide flat funding across federal programs. Long-term CRs can have devastating consequences for the people and communities served by HUD programs. Because the cost of rent rises every year, programs like HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program require yearly increases in funding just to maintain the number of households currently served.  

Flat or insufficient increases act as a cut to funding, reducing the number of people served. A recent analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that, under the House’s essentially flat proposed funding level for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) renewals in FY25, an estimated 328,800 fewer households would be served by the program; a similar number of households would lose their assistance under a year-long CR. With such steep funding cuts, it would likely be impossible for housing providers to maintain current assistance, and some households would lose their vouchers. A year-long CR would also necessitate “anomalies,” additional funding provided to help alleviate budget shortfalls that also provide increased discretion to the Administration on spending decisions.  

“Congress should not pass a clean full-year CR that would cede immense discretion and authority to President Trump, Elon Musk and [OMB Director] Russell Vought to zero out programs and redirect funding as they see fit," said Vice-Chair Murray in a memo.  

Take Action

Urge Congress to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs! 
 
Advocates can use NLIHC’s resources to take action today and urge Congress to pass increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness in FY25, including for NLIHC’s top priorities: 

• Full funding to renew all existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.  
• $6.2 billion for public housing operations and $5.2 billion for public housing capital needs. 
• $4.7 billion for HUD's Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program. 
• $100 million for the Eviction Protection Grant Program. 
• At least $1.3 billion for Tribal housing programs, plus $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes with the greatest needs. 

Use NLIHC’s toolkits and resources to take action on FY25 funding, including by: 

• Emailing or calling members’ offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources important to you, your family, your community, and 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 people directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability. Storytelling adds emotional weight to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact actual people. Learn about how to tell compelling stories with this resource. 
• Using our “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing” toolkit: This toolkit includes resources, talking points, advocacy ideas, and other helpful information on defending funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources in the FY25 federal budget. Meet with your representatives and urge them to provide the most possible funding for these vital programs in any final FY25 budget agreement. 

National, state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,300 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY25.