National Housing Law Project Urges OMB to Rescind Proposal to Politicize Federal Grantmaking

WASHINGTON D.C.—The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) today urged Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to withdraw its proposal to politicize federal grantmaking by rewriting the rules to give Trump appointees ultimate power to award and terminate funding based on the administration’s ideological agenda. The proposal would apply government-wide, covering over a trillion dollars in annual federal grants to state and local governments, housing authorities, universities, nonprofits, tribal governments, and others. NHLP submitted a comment to OMB focusing on the impact to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded programs and the people and communities they serve.

“NHLP strongly opposes the proposed rule not only because of the immense burdens it will place on grantees of federal financial assistance, but most importantly due to its projected negative impact on the ultimate stakeholders of government-funded services,” the National Housing Law Project wrote in a comment to OMB. “The new regulations will take critical resources away from housing and service providers, furthering housing instability and increasing homelessness throughout the country. The proposed regulatory changes are burdensome, unnecessary and illegal. If finalized, the rule will disrupt housing supply and preservation efforts and diminish tenants’ rights.” 

In a comment, NHLP urged OMB to rescind its proposal for the following reasons:

• Congress did not give OMB the authority to conduct substantive rulemaking for other  federal agencies or place new limitations on funds allocated by Congress;
• The proposal violates HUD’s procedural rulemaking requirements which Congress mandated the agency follow in regulating HUD funding programs;
• The proposal violates the will of Congress by impermissibly creating new substantive funding conditions for HUD programs;
• The proposal attempts to eliminate Limited English Proficiency, civil rights, and affirmative marketing requirements mandated by Congress;
• The proposal conflicts with Congressional intent to provide local discretion to grantees;
• Changes to grantmaking requirements use vague and overly broad terms that will make compliance burdensome, if not impossible;
• The proposal gives any administration unfettered discretion to eliminate federal grantees it disfavors, which will reduce affordable housing production and preservation and could damage the ability of tenants to organize without retaliation;
• The proposal will cause significant harm and undermine federally-assisted tenants’ rights; and
• The proposal will make legal representation of tenants impossible because of its prohibition on disparate impact advocacy.

OMB’s proposal is part of the Trump administration’s unlawful power grab and attempt to dismantle the government programs that keep people housed, fed, and healthy. 

Read NHLP’s full comment to OMB here.