Trump HUD Plans Two-Year Rental Aid Limit Threatening 1.4 Million Low-Income Renters

The Trump administration has proposed a two-year time limit on Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) rental assistance programs, including Section 8 vouchers and public housing, which could force 1.4 million low-income households, primarily working families with children, out of subsidized housing. This policy has raised serious concerns about widespread evictions and homelessness amid an ongoing national affordable housing crisis, as recipients like Havalah Hopkins, a single mother supporting her autistic son, fear losing their homes due to insufficient wages and high local rents. HUD Secretary Scott Turner defends the time limits as a means to combat waste and fraud and to encourage self-sufficiency, arguing that HUD assistance was intended to be temporary. However, critics argue that the proposed limits would dismantle stable housing for vulnerable families and disrupt longstanding HUD commitments, particularly given that many local housing authorities who piloted similar limits eventually abandoned them. The NYU Housing Solutions Lab report highlights the potential for significant administrative challenges and upheaval, noting that eviction processes would burden housing authorities while failing to address the root causes of housing insecurity. The uncertain details of enforcement, exemptions, and implementation timelines add to the fears that the policy could exacerbate homelessness and housing instability for millions of Americans.