Lawmakers rejected the White House’s proposed cuts to major housing programs on Thursday, instead bolstering the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget in a spending package passed by the House.
In May, the White House sent congressional appropriators a letter requesting a $43.5 billion budget for HUD, looking to cut the agency’s budget by half and eliminate a number of housing assistance programs and grants. But in a 341-88 vote for a package that also included spending for the Departments of Defense, Transportation, Labor and Health and Human Services, the House resoundingly voted to increase HUD’s budget to around $84.2 billion.
“It was important not to fund housing at a level that was going to risk people losing housing assistance, so it became a priority for us, and the White House knew that’s where I stood,” Rep. Steve Womack, chair of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees HUD and one of the key appropriators that negotiated the contents of the bill, told NOTUS.