The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to housing assistance could affect thousands of Maryland residents — drawing criticism from Democratic members of Maryland’s Congressional delegation.

“Donald Trump is deliberately taking aim at programs in Baltimore that provide housing with no regard for the families and children they will kick to the curb,” U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun. Mfume represents Baltimore City and Baltimore County.

Leaders of Baltimore City’s Continuum of Care, which partners with the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services to coordinate funding addressing homelessness, warn that proposed federal budget and other legislation would unleash “staggering” harm and cause a “collapse” of the housing ecosystem. The cuts — which the Trump administration touts as making government less wasteful and more efficient — would include a 44% reduction in overall funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C.

The Trump administration defends its budget proposal, arguing that state and local jurisdictions need to take on more responsibility for housing assistance. A HUD spokesperson said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun that the department “currently only serves 1 out of 4 eligible families.”

“Reimagining HUD’s rental assistance will reduce waste, fraud and abuse as well as provide the opportunity for states and localities to better serve vulnerable residents by implementing localized solutions that reflect the unique needs of communities, including in Baltimore,” the spokesperson, Kasey Lovett, said, mirroring the longstanding sentiment of the Trump administration.

U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski, a Democrat who represents parts of Baltimore County, Carroll County and Baltimore City, said he opposes cuts to federal housing assistance. During his time as Baltimore County executive, Olszewski issued an executive order requiring all new housing developments that receive financial backing to include affordable housing units.

“I believe a safe home should be a fundamental right,” Olszewsi said in an emailed statement. “Proposed cuts to housing supports at the federal level threaten the progress we have made in the Baltimore region and in communities across the country.”

Rep. Sarah Elfreth, who represents Howard County and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, said housing is one of the “largest challenges” for families in her district.

“I have deep concerns around the impact that Republicans’ proposed cuts will have on housing and housing assistance here in Maryland,” she said in a statement. She added that the administration’s proposed cuts to affordable housing programs like the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and the Community Development Block Grant “will only exacerbate the affordability crisis.”

Andy Winkler, director of housing and infrastructure projects at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said he thought it unlikely the proposed cuts would pass as written, because they’d require at least some support from Democrats, many of whom probably would consider the proposals a “non-starter.”

“Administration budgets are almost like a wish list,” Winkler said. “These are programs that have a lot of bipartisan support, and historically, members of Congress haven’t wanted to cut them too dramatically for fear of people suddenly losing their housing or their housing supports.”

A spokesperson for Maryland’s sole Republican Congressman, Andy Harris, did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Catastrophic’ effects

The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal includes a $26.7 billion, or 43%, cut to HUD’s rental assistance programs. This, along with several other changes, would result in “catastrophic” effects if implemented, wrote Continuum of Care program Chair Nico Sanders and Vice Chair Jamal Turner, in a letter addressed to the Maryland Congressional delegation, HUD leadership and national housing partners.

If the cuts are enacted, they estimate the legislation would cause 6,232 households to lose their assistance through the Housing Authority of Baltimore City’s (HABC) Housing Choice Voucher Program, and 2,800 families to face eviction from public housing due to new time limits and work requirements. They also estimate more than 660 households in HUD-supported homelessness programs would be “uprooted from housing,” and 13,000 people who receive help from homeless services and shelters each year would see “severe cutbacks in outreach, case management, and housing placements.”

“We are standing at the edge of a policy cliff, and those most impacted by homelessness — children, seniors, veterans, survivors, and people living with disabilities — are being pushed toward the edge,” they wrote. “We have built a local housing system that works. But no local effort can withstand a total collapse in federal partnership.”

Winkler distinguished between housing cuts in the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and much more substantial cuts in the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal. While the “One Big Beautiful Bill” includes some trims, it also would expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, “which would actually lead to more housing development,” Winkler said.

If the cuts in the fiscal year 2026 budget were to materialize, it would be “pretty dramatic,” he said.

Olszewski on Thursday introduced a bill that would track housing loss, similar to how unemployment is tracked through a national rate. The bill has 10 Democratic cosponsors, including Elfreth.

“You can’t fix what you don’t measure,” Olszewski said in a statement. “If we are serious about ensuring housing stability and addressing the homelessness crisis, we have to begin by measuring the problem.”

Shifting responsibility to states

The Trump administration is pushing to have states take more responsibility for housing assistance moving forward.

The administration’s budget request “proposes a state-based formula grant to encourage states to have skin in the game for the funding and design of their own rental assistance,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner, speaking at a House budget hearing on Tuesday. “The block grant will empower states to be more thoughtful and precise in their stewardship.”

Turner said the original purpose of HUD is to “temporarily help Americans in need.”

“HUD assistance is not supposed to be permanent,” he said. “It’s to be a trampoline, not a hammock, and not a resting place.” He added that HUD would eliminate “wasteful” spending, along with diversity, equity and inclusion contracts “that had nothing to do with HUD.”

It could be challenging for states to replace federal housing assistance programs, depending on factors like the size of their tax base, Winkler said. In Maryland, the General Assembly already has faced recent budget cuts due to a tight fiscal landscape.

“I do think it would be a pretty significant strain on state and local governments to be able to step in, especially quickly, to be able to do the same thing that this federal funding provides,” Winkler said.

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