Washington, D.C.— Today, the White House released its FY2026 budget proposal, which includes significant funding cuts to numerous programs that have long been critical for American cities. In particular, it calls for fully eliminating the Community Development Block Grant Program and the HOME Investment Partnership Program. In response, USCM President Columbus (OH) Mayor Andrew Ginther released the following statement:
“American cities have overcome incredible obstacles in recent years and reemerged stronger, safer, and more vibrant. The budget released today would undermine all of that progress. These excessive and punitive cuts to critical programs threaten public safety, local economies, the health of the people in our communities, and the very federal-local partnership that has made American cities so dynamic.
“In particular, the proposed hollowing out of federal housing and development programs would be devastating. We have a raging housing crisis unfolding in America, and this budget would only deepen it. Ending CDBG and the HOME programs reflects a fundamental disregard for the challenges that families are facing to find affordable housing. These programs have long had broad bipartisan support because the lack of housing impacts every corner of our country, every political persuasion, and every rung of the socioeconomic ladder. Housing is the bedrock of a thriving community and a central tenet of the American Dream.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that dream lives on, and the nation’s mayors demand the administration and Congress uphold their responsibility to be good partners in strengthening opportunities for people in American cities. We urge Congress to continue funding these critical bipartisan programs.”