WASHINGTON — The National Coalition for the Homeless is condemning President Donald J. Trump’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, calling it a dangerous retreat from vital federal housing and homelessness programs that serve some of the nation’s most vulnerable residents.
In a statement released Wednesday, the nonprofit organization warned that the proposed cuts would “precipitate a catastrophic surge in homelessness,” particularly among families, disabled individuals, seniors, and low-income renters already struggling to afford housing.
“Last year, we witnessed the highest number of individuals experiencing homelessness, and the administration proposes to abandon effective, evidence-based strategies in favor of approaches that will precipitate a catastrophic surge in homelessness,” said Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “If implemented in its current form, this budget has the potential to cause preventable deaths.”
The budget proposal includes a $26.72 billion cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rental assistance programs, including Housing Choice Vouchers, Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance, and programs for seniors and people with disabilities. These would be consolidated into a single State Rental Assistance Block Grant, which would reduce rental aid by an estimated 43 percent and impose a two-year limit on assistance for able-bodied adults. States would be expected to shoulder a larger share of the cost to maintain existing service levels.
The proposal would also slash funding for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants by $532 million and eliminate the Continuum of Care and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS programs, folding both into the Emergency Solutions Grant program. Permanent supportive housing programs and veteran-specific assistance like HUD-VASH would be discontinued entirely.
In addition, Trump’s budget calls for eliminating the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships programs. The administration also seeks to end funding for competitive Tribal and Native Hawaiian housing grants, shifting all such funding into a single formula-based block grant program.
Other proposed eliminations include the Family Self-Sufficiency program, which the administration described as duplicative, and HUD’s Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing program, which provides incentives for inclusive local zoning reforms. The budget would reduce funding for Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard programs by nearly $300 million and eliminate the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which investigates and adjudicates housing discrimination complaints. Only the Fair Housing Assistance Program, which supports local enforcement agencies, would remain intact.
In its response, the National Coalition for the Homeless called the president’s proposal a moral failure and an abandonment of federal responsibility to protect at-risk communities. The organization emphasized that presidential budgets are not merely financial plans but political documents that reflect an administration’s values and priorities.
Although presidential budgets rarely become law in their original form, they serve as a starting point for negotiations in Congress and signal the administration’s policy direction. The coalition urged lawmakers to reject the president’s vision and adopt a budget that fully funds housing vouchers, public housing operations, homelessness prevention grants, and eviction protection efforts.
Whitehead called on the public to pressure lawmakers to protect essential programs, stating that “we must remain committed to policies that save lives, reduce suffering, and strengthen communities.”
