The Department of Housing and Urban Development under Donald Trump made a policy change that could take away $3 billion from permanent housing programs. The change could move many formerly homeless people, including war veterans, from permanent housing to temporary transitional housing.
HUD informed housing providers last year about its plan to take away $3 billion in funding. The authorities and residents have since been desperately looking for alternatives. Advocates warn that housing facilities could force out current residents to take in new applicants.
A HUD spokesperson has defended the initiative. The spokesperson said some people in federally funded housing are exposed to illegal drugs and s– offenders.
Donald Trump just shifted $3 billion away from permanent housing programs.
Up to 170,000 people, including veterans who escaped homelessness could lose their homes. pic.twitter.com/1BqeaRn6LQ
— ᗰᗩƳᖇᗩ (@LePapillonBlu2) March 31, 2026
“HUD fully stands by our objective to overhaul America’s failed homelessness system, which has relied almost exclusively on permanently warehousing the homeless at exorbitant taxpayer cost while ignoring root causes.”
If the plan by HUD is implemented, up to 170,000 formerly homeless people across the U.S., including many veterans, who had been calling these housing facilities home, could face forced eviction.
However, a federal judge in Rhode Island has managed to temporarily push back HUD’s efforts as part of a lawsuit filed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and other advocacy groups. A ruling is expected soon.
Ann Oliva, executive director of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the organization is “just trying to protect people’s homes.” She added, “HUD is trying to defund evidence-based, well-run programs across the country, permanent housing programs across the country, in favor of short-term interventions that don’t actually keep people housed over a long period of time.”
Transitional housing provides shelter for a brief period, typically up to two years. However, homeless advocates say that the average time spent in transitional housing tends to be much shorter, in some cases, only a few months, with many residents returning to the streets.
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝: A Trump administration plan to shift federal funding from permanent supportive… pic.twitter.com/wH2SK6Nx60
— Ranked News (@RankedNews) March 29, 2026
Jayson Carter, a Vietnam War veteran who struggles with neurological issues and end-stage renal disease, stays in a housing facility in Memphis, Tennessee. In a conversation with CNN, he revealed that his health challenges will make the situation more difficult for him to deal with. “It would be just disastrous. I’d be back on the street in my old Buick with no air conditioning,” he said.
Carter is among more than two dozen veterans at facilities run by the nonprofit Alpha Omega Veterans Services who fear being evicted. Al Edwards, the executive director, who runs three housing facilities for the Alpha Omega organization, expressed concern that he will have no choice but to evict at least 30 veterans in the coming weeks.
He revealed to CNN, “I will definitely have to evict everyone. I have cried tears about this. This has been the most stressful period of my life.”
