National Housing Group Criticizes Executive Orders

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) issued a statement outlining the potential impacts of President Trump’s recent executive orders on affordable housing. According to NLICH, the actions, if implemented, “would make it harder for our nation to ensure that everyone has access to an affordable, accessible place to call home.”

The Coalition argues that the executive orders would undermine efforts to ensure fairness and equity in housing, weaken the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s capacity, put marginalized people at greater risk, undermine state and local efforts to reduce homelessness, and ultimately harm people at a time when over 10 million American households are “severely rent-burdened,” spending more than half their income on housing.

As the statement notes, HUD is an already underresourced agency. “An executive action instituting a hiring freeze will prevent HUD from hiring essential staff and slow down the agency’s ability to help states and communities address their most pressing housing needs.” Meanwhile, efforts to end DEI programs and target undocumented immigrants could be used to deny funding to organizations that offer shelter and services, undermining their missions.