On May 2nd, Trump submitted to Congress his discretionary budget proposal for FY 2026. Trump’s budget recommendations consolidate into one document many of the disparate cuts and program overhauls that he and members of his administration have made over the past few months. Overall, the proposed budget represents massive funding increases to the military (an increase to the Department of Defense of $113 billion) and to the Department of Homeland Security (an increase of $42 billion), modest increases to the Department of Transportation ($2.6 Billion) and Veterans Affairs ($5.0 Billion), and cuts everywhere else ($163 billion cut from all other discretionary spending). Per the table below, the largest cuts are to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
| Department/Agency | Total Proposed Cuts | Housing and Community Development Notes |
| HUD | $32.9 Billion | |
| Health and Human Services | $32.2 Billion | Includes elimination of the Community Services Block Grant ($0.8 Billion) |
| State Department/USAID | $21.8 Billion | |
| Department of Energy | $20.3 Billion | |
| Department of Education | $10.7 Billion | |
| NASA | $6.3 Billion | |
| National Science Foundation | $4.7 Billion | |
| USDA | $4.6 Billion | |
| EPA | $4.2 Billion | |
| Department of the Interior | $3.8 Billion | |
| Department of Labor | $3.6 Billion | |
| Elimination of multiple small agencies | $3.6 Billion | Includes elimination of AmeriCorps, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation |
| Treasury | $2.7 Billion | Includes elimination of CDFI discretionary funding ($0.3 Billion) |
| Commerce | $2.5 Billion | Includes elimination of the Economic Development Administration and the Minority Business Development Agency (combined $0.6 Billion) |
| Department of Justice | $2.4 Billion | |
| Corps of Engineers | $1.1 Billion |
Source: SVHAF analysis of White House proposal
For context, housing and community development represent roughly 5% of the total discretionary, non-defense budget but are over 20% of the proposed cuts to non-defense spending.
The proposed cuts to housing and community development programs will have a direct, negative impact on our collective efforts in Silicon Valley to provide housing and healthy, vibrant communities for all. Cuts of note include:
- HOME and CDBG Eliminated: The Trump budget proposal completely eliminates HOME Investment Partnership Programs (HOME) and the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), cutting over $4.5 billion for local states, counties, and cities to fund affordable housing, social services, and capital for investment (e.g., community facilities and public infrastructure) in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Santa Clara County jurisdictions will lose a combined almost $20 million per year, including over $10 million in annual funding to the City of San Jose. This would be a huge blow to our local economy and our region’s ability to house and provide services to our most vulnerable.
- Cuts to Vouchers: The Trump budget proposes $26.7 billion in cuts to a suite of programs that includes both tenant-based and project-based vouchers. This represents at least a 43% cut to voucher programs. It is unclear (i.e., the proposal does not provide enough details) how these cuts will be distributed and, therefore, the specific dollar impact to our region is difficult to estimate. But, if enacted, these cuts would mean that thousands of people in Santa Clara County will lose rental assistance and likely become unhoused, causing unnecessary human suffering and stressing our support systems beyond their breaking point.
- Cuts to Homeless Assistance Programs: The Trump budget proposes consolidation of three housing programs that sit in the Community Planning and Development division of HUD – Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Continuum of Care programs (COC), and the Emergency Services Grant program (ESG) – into a single, new program that is nominally about homeless assistance. The proposed consolidation also will also entail a $0.5 billion cut to the programs. See here for an article about the impact of potential cuts to COC programs in Santa Clara County. As with cuts to vouchers, these cuts will push more Valley residents into homelessness.
You Can Take Action
Congress sets the budget for the United States, not the President. Congress routinely ignores a President’s budget recommendations and sets their own path – as they did the last time Trump was in office. However, this time is different and Congress has been treating Trump with far more deference than they did previously. In order to ensure that Congress does not enact these ill-conceived cuts, please take action (link takes you to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s federal campaign website) and contact your Congressional representatives and tell them to refuse Trump’s cuts to HUD (and every other Trump proposed cut that hurts housing, science, the environment, healthcare, social services, etc.).