DOGE’s Cuts to HUD Will Make It Harder to Afford Housing, Exit Homelessness

A record number of people are struggling to afford housing, and leaders from across the political spectrum have called for action. But the Trump Administration, including Elon Musk and the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), has taken one step after another that will undermine the most effective policies to help people afford housing, including cutting Housing and Urban Development (HUD) staff, withholding urgently needed funds, and making harmful policy changes.

In 2023, 24 million people lived in low-income households that paid over half their income in rent, forcing them to shift money away from other basic needs and often leaving them one setback away from eviction. In January 2024, 770,000 people across the country — an all-time high — couldn’t afford housing at all and were forced to live in shelters, cars, tents, or other unsafe and unstable circumstances.

These are solvable problems. Housing Choice Vouchers and similar rental assistance sharply reduce housing instability and overcrowding, research shows, and rental assistance combined with supportive services when needed is the most effective policy for reducing homelessness. Today only 1 in 4 households in need receives rental assistance due to funding limitations, and waitlists for assistance are long almost everywhere. So policymakers should be seeking to expand this highly effective assistance to reach everyone in need.

The Trump Administration’s actions, on the other hand, will mean that fewer people who struggle to keep a roof over their heads will get the help they need.

Elon Musk and DOGE have reportedly called for discharging at least half of HUD staff overall, sometimes using tactics that may be illegal. Specifically, the proposals would cut:

• 50 percent of staff in the HUD office that administers vouchers, public housing, and Native American housing programs, which together help 7 million people afford housing;
• 44 percent in the office the oversees the project-based rental assistance program, which provides rental assistance to an additional 2 million people;
• 84 percent in the office that administers homelessness assistance and grants that help communities build affordable housing and recover from disasters; and
• 77 percent in the office that enforces fair housing laws — one of a series of Administration actions that will severely weaken protections for people who face housing discrimination based on characteristics such as race, gender, and age.

Staff in these offices play a critical role in ensuring that tens of billions of dollars of badly needed federal funds are distributed promptly and used efficiently. Layoffs on the scale that DOGE is seeking will lead to delays and waste, resulting in people and communities around the country getting less help to address urgent needs.

In addition, the Administration has interrupted the normal flow of HUD funds that are used to address housing needs, again sometimes through means that are likely illegal. HUD attempted in January to withhold funds as part of a broader federal funding freeze, which multiple federal courts have ordered the Administration to temporarily halt while they review the action. HUD does not appear to have intentionally withheld funds for vouchers and other rental assistance so far, but the uncertainty created by Administration policies has led to payment delays that could cause some landlords to stop accepting vouchers, making it harder for voucher holders to find homes they can rent.

Meanwhile, HUD has yet to deliver any of the $3.6 billion in homelessness assistance funding awarded January 17, which communities are counting on to provide rental assistance, shelter, outreach, and other services to people experiencing homelessness. While HUD notified at least some grantees that they will begin to receive funds soon, the uncertainty has disrupted community planning efforts and the final awards may include abrupt policy changes that could complicate implementation. The Administration has also canceled contracts for organizations that help protect people from housing discrimination and provide technical assistance that plays a crucial role in effectively implementing HUD programs — even though the Administration provided no evidence that the organizations were failing to perform as required.

Finally, HUD officials have proposed or discussed a series of policy changes that would make it harder for many people in need to receive housing assistance. HUD has said it will publish a rule rolling back non-discrimination protections that guarantee access to safe shelter and housing assistance for transgender and nonbinary people, who experience disproportionately high rates of homelessness. And it has already published a rule weakening fair housing requirements.

HUD officials have also called for evicting or cutting off rental assistance for people who don’t meet burdensome work requirements, a step that would increase administrative costs and expose many children, people with serious health conditions or caretaking responsibilities, and others to severe hardship.

Rather than squandering resources on costly tax cuts for the wealthy, policymakers should be expanding effective programs toward the goals of ending homelessness and ensuring everyone has a stable, affordable home. And they should make targeted reforms to address shortcomings of those programs to make them even more effective at addressing pressing housing needs. The Administration’s actions will have the opposite effect, making it harder for people to afford housing and exit homelessness.