Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Bipartisan FY26 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Funding Bill

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved by a broadly bipartisan vote of 27–1 its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations bill. This follows earlier consideration of FY26 THUD legislation by the House Appropriations Committee, which passed on a party-line vote of 35–28.

Of note, the Senate Appropriations Committee would provide FY25-level funding of $1.25 billion in FY26 for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program; House appropriators proposed eliminating regular annual funding for HOME in FY26. Several committee members, including Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and THUD Subcommittee Chair Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), spoke in favor of HOME, noting the role the program plays in producing new affordable housing.

The Senate committee-passed bill would provide $73.3 billion for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in FY26, which is approximately $4.6 billion higher than the FY25 enacted level and $5.55 billion higher than the House Appropriations Committee-passed bill (the House bill). Funding levels for programs of interest follow. (Note, direct comparison with the President’s FY26 Budget Request is not possible since the Trump Administration proposed consolidating many rental assistance programs into a single state block grant.)

• $37.4 billion for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, $1.3 billion higher than the FY25 enacted level and $2.1 billion higher than the House bill;
• $17.804 billion for Project-Based Rental Assistance, $914 million higher than the FY25 enacted level and $677 million higher than the House bill;
• $3.1 billion for the Community Development Block Grant formula grant program, $200 million lower than the FY25 enacted level and House bill but $3.1 billion higher than the president’s request;
• $4.53 billion for Homelessness Assistance Grants, $479 million higher than the FY25 enacted level and $372 million higher than the House bill;
• $1.25 billion for the HOME program, level with FY25 and $1.25 billion higher than both the President’s Budget Request and House bill;
• $972 million for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program, $40.6 million higher than the FY25 enacted level and $22 million higher than the House bill;
• $265 million for the Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities program, $8.3 million higher than the FY25 enacted level and $3.2 million higher than the House level; and
• $1.4 billion in Community Project Funding, or earmarks, $1.4 billion higher than the FY25 enacted level and approximately $900 million lower than the House level.

As in the House, the legislation also would set the following limits for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) guaranteed loans and Ginnie Mae-backed securities for FY26:

• $400 billion in guaranteed loans for FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance, equal to the FY25 enacted level and president’s request;
• $35 billion in guaranteed loans for the General and Special Risk Insurance program, equal to the FY25 enacted level and president’s request; and
• $550 billion in guaranteed loans for Ginnie Mae, equal to the FY25 enacted level and president’s request.

In addition, Senate appropriators, like their House counterparts, have for now declined to implement the Trump Administration’s proposal to consolidate all federal rental assistance into a single new state block grant program, at least until relevant authorizing committees have considered the proposal.

A summary of the bill may be found here; the committee report accompanying the bill may be found here. NCSHA’s updated budget chart is available here.