The White House puts fair housing on the chopping block

Proposed budget cuts threaten fair housing enforcement, putting millions at risk of discrimination and instability. By slashing funding for frontline organizations and gutting HUD’s enforcement capacity, these changes would make it nearly impossible to hold bad actors accountable. At the Shriver Center, we’re fighting back — through legal advocacy, state-level solutions, and coalition efforts to protect people’s rights to safe, stable housing.

The Trump administration’s proposed housing cuts are a direct attack on fair housing enforcement, putting the basic right to safe, stable housing at risk for millions. While headlines focus on policy shifts, the deeper crisis is the systematic dismantling of the agencies and programs designed to protect people from housing discrimination. These organizations are often the first line of defense for people experiencing housing discrimination. These changes will have ripple effects nationwide, limiting the ability of both federal and local entities to enforce fair housing laws and support marginalized communities.

One of the administration’s most alarming moves is the attempt to gut the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Proposed budget cuts include slashing funding for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP), which supports local nonprofits that investigate and address housing discrimination. These cuts would effectively eliminate a primary avenue for individuals seeking justice, as local fair housing centers — often the first point of contact for those experiencing discrimination — risk losing their funding. Unlike private attorneys, these centers provide services at no cost to complainants. This week, a temporary injunction was issued to protect the FHIP grants.

At the same time, the administration is proposing a 76 percent staffing reduction for HUD’s Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) division — the federal office responsible for investigating discrimination complaints. If implemented, this would leave only about 120 investigators nationwide to handle fair housing enforcement. That’s not just a cut — it’s a death sentence for meaningful federal enforcement of fair housing laws. Delays, already an issue, would grow so severe that cases would languish for years, effectively denying justice to those facing discrimination.

These cuts, combined with other policy rollbacks, amount to a one-two punch against fair housing enforcement. By defunding nonprofit enforcement agencies and hollowing out the federal office responsible for oversight, the administration is making it nearly impossible for fair housing laws to be enforced in any meaningful way.

At the same time, Trump claims to care about affordable housing, yet his administration’s approach has been to deregulate protections while doubling down on market-driven solutions that benefit landlords and developers, not renters. The reality is simple: housing remains unaffordable because rents are rising unchecked, wages are stagnant, and there are no meaningful restrictions on profit incentives. Instead of addressing these systemic problems, the administration is gutting the very programs meant to hold bad actors accountable.

At the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, we are standing with our partners to challenge these harmful policies and protect the right to fair housing. Through our networks and partners we’re coordinating efforts to monitor these changes, support impacted communities, and explore every possible legal and advocacy avenue to fight back. While federal protections are being gutted, we are working with state partners to introduce and pass policies that strengthen tenant rights and fair housing enforcement. Our 2025 legislative agenda includes a focus on expanding housing protections for marginalized groups.

The right to fair housing is under attack, but we are committed to not letting these cuts go unchallenged. We will fight in the courts, in communities, and in coalition with our partners to ensure that housing remains a human right — not a privilege for the few.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Join us in this fight.

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