The Republican Continuing Resolution Raises Housing Costs for Hardworking Americans

Republicans’ full-year continuing resolution—a blank check for Elon Musk and President Trump:

• Puts tens of thousands of households on rental assistance at risk of eviction; 

• Reduces support for homeless shelters and services;

• Cuts investment in affordable housing production; and 

• Fails to reign in the chaos and uncertainty created by funding freezes, cancelled contracts, and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) field office closures.

This continuing resolution fails to lower the cost of housing by underfunding core HUD programs that local communities in every congressional district rely on for housing assistance, affordable housing construction, community development, infrastructure, and homeless services.

• The Republican bill cuts rent subsidies and homelessness response grants for low-income and working Americans by more than $700 million, leaving landlords to foot the bill for or evict more than 32,000households and shortchanges contracts that serve as a lifeline for 1.4 million households, to include veterans, survivors of domestic violence, seniors, and families with disabilities. 

• While more than 771,000 seniors, veterans, families, and other Americans are currently experiencing homelessness, the continuing resolution decimates funding for construction of new permanent supportive housing while still falling $168 million short of what is required to maintain homeless services across 400 communities nationally, forcing local homelessness response programs to cut services, shelter space, and staff.

• At a time when there is a national shortage of 7.3 million units of affordable and available rental homes across America, this bill ignores the Trump tariffs adding to the rising cost of housing construction, resulting in cuts to HUD’s HOME Program, the sole Federal program dedicated to affordable housing construction, and Native American Housing Block Grants, the primary source for expanding housing in and near Tribal communities.  

Meanwhile, Elon Musk and President Trump have moved to illegally dismantle HUD programs and services without the approval of Congress, and this partisan, bare-bones bill is a tacit endorsement of the chaos created by cancelled investments in community development, housing construction, fair housing enforcement, and HUD customer service. Since January 20, 2025 – 

• Homeless service providers serving every congressional district have been in limbo as HUD continues to withhold billions in promised grant funds that keep the lights on in shelters and provide critical wraparound services to help struggling families, seniors, and veterans get off the streets and into stable housing. 

• Elon Musk has illegally terminated hundreds of millions of HUD-issued taxpayer dollars directed to local businesses and nonprofits, leaving our constituents in the lurch by halting the efficient deployment of funding for affordable housing construction, disaster recovery, disability discrimination investigations, and homelessness response across urban, rural, small and Tribal communities.

• Hundreds of affordable housing projects have stalled after promised investments were pulled back, creating chaos and uncertainty that will leave local contractors unpaid, construction workers and technicians out of work, community non-profits shuttered, and hardworking Americans with fewer affordable home options.

• After Elon Musk pulled back funding from active fair housing enforcement grants, civil rights organizations are unable to help people facing housing discrimination, at a time when people with disabilities account for 53 percent of housing discrimination cases and less than 5 percent of America’s housing is adequately accessible for people with disabilities. Bad actors that are trying to evade longstanding civil rights laws protecting housing choice for most Americans are going unchecked.

• HUD’s workforce was indiscriminately cut by 13 percent yet this bill does nothing to fill gaps or protect jobs across Congressional districts, leaving thousands of landlords relying on timely rent payments to be forced to foot the bill for more than 5 million low-income households when rent is due and payments are delayed, forcing many landlords to evict families as they face HUD office closures across the country. 

By failing to provide specific directives for congressional priorities and rein in Elon Musk’s takeover, this bill provides a blank check for the continued dismantling of programs and services our constituents rely on.