Federal Plan Would Strip Housing From Thousands in Louisiana — A Coordinated Attack on the Most Vulnerable

The Trump administration's recent policy changes threaten federally funded housing programs that helped thousands exit homelessness in Louisiana, potentially forcing many back onto the streets.

What began as cuts and rollbacks across health care, nutrition assistance and environmental protections has extended to housing — the most basic foundation for stability. Through executive orders and new Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) guidance, the White House has directed agencies to increase enforcement against encampments, impose stricter conditions on federal grantees, and reshape how Continuum of Care grants are awarded.

Who Is At Risk

Local administrators warn that these changes are not minor technical adjustments but would dismantle long-standing supports. Unity of Greater New Orleans, which administers HUD-funded programs in Orleans and Jefferson parishes, says more than 4,000 formerly homeless people across Louisiana could lose housing if the plan moves forward — including over 2,600 people in Orleans and Jefferson parishes alone. Many of those served are seniors, people with disabilities and families who relied on permanent supportive housing to maintain stability.

What the Rules Change

Under the proposed HUD rules described by local officials and advocates:

• Allocations for permanent supportive housing — which supports people with disabilities experiencing chronic homelessness — would fall from roughly 80% of Louisiana’s HUD award to about one third.
• Automatic formula funding would be reduced from about 90% to 30%, creating the risk that parishes unable to meet new requirements could lose up to 70% of requested funds to other jurisdictions.
• The changes would create a projected six-month funding gap beginning in early 2026, during which programs could close, staff could be laid off, and providers could be unable to pay rent or deliver essential services.

Why This Matters

These shifts would not address the central driver of homelessness — the soaring cost of housing — and instead would replace long-term solutions with temporary measures that lack stability. By redirecting dollars away from permanent supportive housing, the policy risks returning vulnerable people to homelessness, increasing strain on emergency services, and erasing years of progress in communities that have invested in recovery.

There is bipartisan alarm: more than 20 Republicans joined Democrats in a letter urging HUD to reverse the plan. When both parties express concern, it underscores the human stakes and the breadth of community impact.

"Our duty is to lift people up, not tear them down. Our job is to create pathways to stability, dignity and opportunity, not take them away." — Troy A. Carter, Sr., U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District

Unless federal leaders reverse course, local providers warn of program closures, layoffs, and widespread displacement beginning in 2026. Communities, advocates and lawmakers must pursue policies that tackle housing affordability and expand long-term supportive housing — not cuts that punish people for being poor or disabled.

Author: Troy A. Carter, Sr., Representative for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District.