The White House is considering sweeping cuts to federal housing assistance programs, including the Section 8 voucher system, in a move that could leave millions of low-income families without rental support, The New York Times reported Thursday.
According to the Times, President Donald Trump and administration officials have discussed the dismantling of existing aid that would be replaced with a smaller system of state-run housing grants.
Three individuals familiar with these talks, speaking with the Times on condition of anonymity, said the changes are expected to be part of Trump’s upcoming budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year.
Although the details remain vague, sources indicated the plan would likely result in fewer federal dollars for rental assistance, compounding expected reductions across the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
On Thursday, the administration also began steps to relocate HUD’s current headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Potential consequences
Currently, about 2.3 million low-income households rely on federal vouchers, administered through local housing authorities, to help pay rent. While the program is part of a $54 billion rental assistance framework, demand consistently exceeds funding, leaving long waitlists as rents continue to rise nationwide, the Times reported.
“If there were a cut to the voucher program, essentially, you would see a decrease to the number of families that are served by the program,” Eric Oberdorfer, policy director at the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, told the Times.
Only one in four eligible families receives a voucher due to budget constraints. Cuts would force agencies to “make difficult decisions” and potentially halt benefits for many, he added.
Rachel Cauley, a White House budget office spokeswoman, told the Times that “no final funding decisions have been made.”
Russell Vought, the architect of the conservative Project 2025 document who heads the White House Office of Management and Budget, has previously condemned Section 8 housing.
A HUD spokesperson declined to comment, the Times said.
Efforts to expand Section 8, LA halts new vouchers
Along with efforts to rollback current aid programs, a pandemic-era expansion of the voucher program is set to expire. Congressional Democrats estimate that 32,000 current recipients could soon lose aid.
In March, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House of Representatives and Senate introduced a bill that seeks to expand Section 8, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.
Citing federal budget uncertainty, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles announced in March that it has stopped accepting new applications for Section 8 vouchers.
