Leaked Internal HUD Budget Document Proposes $6 Billion Cut in FY 2018

Earlier today, various news sources, including the Washington Post and The Hill, published troubling reports about leaked documents indicating that the Trump Administration is considering more than $6 billion in cuts to HUD programs in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. According to these reports, the Administration may propose the elimination of several HUD programs, including HOME.

A HUD spokesperson said the leaked budget is “still a work in progress.” The document appears to be part of what in Washington is called “Passback,” which is a process in which the White House Office of Management and Budget engages with federal agencies to prepare the Administration’s budget request to Congress, which we expect the Administration to send Congress sometime in May. The Administration has said it also plans to release a FY 2018 “budget blueprint” next week with some funding details, but we do not know how much program-level information will be included in the blueprint.

The leaked budget document proposes to cut HUD funding overall by 14 percent to $40.5 billion in FY 2018. In addition to HOME, reports indicate that the draft budget request also would eliminate the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and cut $1.3 billion from the public housing capital account; $600 million from the public housing operating fund; $300 million from Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance, including Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing; $42 million from Section 202 Housing for the Elderly; and $29 million from Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities.