WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), top Democrat on the Senate Housing Subcommittee, and Adam Schiff (D-CA) led a letter to the Trump Administration demanding congressionally-appropriated funding for Continuum of Care (CoC) programs aimed at combatting homelessness is allowed to flow. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is required by law to obligate these funds no later than 45 days after the issuance of award letters, a deadline which passed on March 4, 2025.
The Senators criticized the Trump administration for freezing this funding, creating unnecessary chaos amid a national housing crisis. There is a shortage of around 5 million housing units nationwide and nearly 43 million households pay for a rent or mortgage they cannot afford. HUD is the federal agency charged with combatting this crisis. The letter called out HUD for suddenly canceling technical assistance contracts and planning sweeping layoffs, actions which will exacerbate nationwide homelessness.
“We urge you to take action to ensure the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will finish processing FY2024 funding and comply with the two-year funding cycle,” wrote the Senators, “We further urge you to restore HUD’s technical assistance contracts that are vital to CoC recipients in smaller communities.”
“Most CoC awards are needed for existing projects rather than new projects, and hundreds of projects have already started their program years without any clarity on when and if HUD funds will be available,” the lawmakers continued. “To keep the lights on, providers are now being forced to draw on lines of credit at significant cost and risk to their organizations. These projects enable homeless service providers to help veterans, families with children, youth, seniors, and vulnerable individuals access permanent and temporary housing, crisis counseling, and other supportive services”
“Though the OMB memo is now rescinded, its publication created panic and uncertainty among CoC funding recipients actively providing critical homeless services in their communities,” the Senators said. “Large and small homeless service providers alike – across rural, suburban, and urban communities – are largely funded by the Continuum of Care program, and this lack of financial certainty is actively causing them to reevaluate their ability to provide services to their communities.”
The letter is also signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
You can read the text of the letter here.
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