Last year Murray was in Everett to hear about how Trump’s attacks had jeopardized access to Continuum of Care funds in the face of drastic policy changes; this year, Murray returned to Everett having boosted funding and passed into law new policy to protect Continuum of Care grants
In the face of drastic cuts to funding and access pushed by President Trump, Murray led efforts to safeguard critical federal funding that underpins Washington state housing and homelessness safety nets
Murray not only protected key national housing and homelessness programs that are essential for Washington state, but also secured millions in Congressionally Directed Spending to build affordable housing and tackle homelessness across the state
ICYMI: Senator Murray Secures Hundreds of Millions for Transportation & Housing Projects Across WA in Final Appropriations Bills; Boosts Funding for Medical Research, Housing, Child Care & More
***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL HERE***
Everett, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion on the Trump administration’s continued threats to Continuum of Care (CoC) grant funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—which helps communities address homelessness.
Last year in May, Senator Murray held a similar roundtable in Everett, where she heard from local leaders about the Trump administration’s senseless decision to jeopardize CoC grant funding by placing new, potentially unlawful conditions on the grant funding—this in addition to the drastic funding cuts being pushed by President Trump. Now, this year, Senator Murray has returned to Everett and secured a major funding increase for housing and homelessness programs along with new guardrails passed into law to help ensure Continuum of Care grants make their way to out to the communities who need them.
Senator Murray secured a $7.2 billion increase for HUD, protected rental assistance and programs that tackle homelessness from drastic cuts by Trump, and secured millions of dollars for affordable housing projects across Washington state.
Joining Senator Murray for the roundtable were: Mary Jane Brell-Vujovic, Snohomish County Human Services Director; Joe Alonzo, CEO of Cocoon House; Mary Anne Dillon, Vice President of Permanent Housing YWCA Seattle, King, Snohomish; Debra Bordsen, CEO of Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County; Laurie Olson, CEO of Housing Authority of Snohomish County; Sarah Smith, Executive Director of Everett Housing Authority; and Kathryn Opina, CEO of Housing Hope.
HUD’s CoC program is the largest federal program for reducing homelessness, and Washington state receives approximately $120 million annually from the program, largely in King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, and Clark counties. Last March, local governments and non-profits across the country that had qualified for the federal CoC grant program were informed that the fiscal year 2024 funding would require recipients to comply with vaguely worded executive orders that Trump signed in the opening weeks of his second term, specifically related to immigration status, abortion and reproductive care, “gender ideology,” and DEI programs. Snohomish County had already been allocated $16.7 million in fiscal year 2024 CoC grant funding last year—only to be told their receipt of that funding was conditional on meeting the requirements of the president’s various executive orders. Snohomish County was one of eight original plaintiffs in a King County-led coalition of local governments across the country who sued the Trump administration over the potential loss of funding. When it came to implementing the fiscal year 2025 CoC funding, the Trump administration issued a new notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) late last year seeking to upend the program, threaten timely renewal of CoC grants, and was immediately challenged in court by Washington state, alongside other states and nonprofits. In December, a U.S. District Court issued a preliminary injunction blocking HUD from implementing the new NOFO. Last month, HUD complied with the injunction and allowed for renewals of expiring awards in 2026 while litigation continues. Just yesterday, HUD urged the court to dissolve the preliminary injunction from December by March 2nd.
“Trump has painfully sabotaged the important work of so many housing providers and programs that address homeless across Washington state. He froze funding across the government—something that has caused chaos for shelters, food banks, health providers, and more. He turned federal funds meant to help people—into a tool for his own partisan goals with outrageous, illegal restrictions that cut providers off from funds. Trump’s sabotage and unlawful restrictions tangled up $16.7 million in federal funds that were supposed to be supporting the work folks do across Snohomish County. And he put out a budget that would have ripped HUD’s budget in half!” said Senator Murray. “So, as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, I ripped Trump’s budget in half instead and protected crucial housing and homelessness investments. And I secured new guardrails to renew Continuum of Care projects this year and keeping some funds flowing even if the Trump Administration tries to slow-walk this work. That’s a big and important step, but it’s not the end of this fight. One of the biggest reasons we were able to make progress in our new bill—is because people like everyone here in Snohomish County spoke out, and made clear what was at stake. I’m going to keep carrying those voices with me in Congress and I’m going to keep fighting to make housing more affordable and to help end homelessness in our communities.”
President Trump’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 would have slashed funding for HUD by almost 50 percent—a staggering cut that would have decimated housing assistance programs, making millions of Americans vulnerable to homelessness. His budget also proposed to consolidate the CoC Program with the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program within the formula-based Emergency Solutions Grant and to time-limit assistance to two years, all while reducing overall funding by $532 million, or 12 percent. In addition, President Trump’s budget proposed to eliminate or reduce numerous HUD programs, including eliminating major formula programs communities rely upon to develop new affordable housing and for community development activities.
In the face of these drastic cuts, Senator Murray led efforts to safeguard critical federal funding for affordable housing and homelessness safety nets. In the government funding bill Trump signed into law on February 3, 2026, Senator Murray secured a $4.1 billion—or 6 percent—increase in rental assistance programs and a $366 million increase in homeless assistance programs, while rejecting President Trump’s proposals to block-grant, and impose harmful work requirements and time limits on these critical programs that support over 10 million Americans. This includes:
- $38.4 billion for tenant-based rental assistance—a $2.4 billion boost—to continue to serve more than 2.3 million very low- and extremely low-income households nationwide.
- $18.5 billion for project-based rental assistance, an increase of $1.6 billion above last year’s funding level, to continue to house more than 1.3 million very low- and low-income households nationwide.
- $4.4 billion for the Homeless Assistance Grants Program, a $366 million increase over fiscal year 2025. The bill includes $107 million in new funding to address youth homelessness and $52 million in new funding to support survivors of domestic violence.
- New guardrails to protect Continuum of Care grants from Trump administration sabotage. The legislation requires HUD to renew Continuum of Care grants that are expiring in 2026 if HUD does not make awards for fiscal year 2025 funds by the beginning of each quarter in 2026. Washington state, alongside other states and nonprofits, has sued HUD over their delay in getting fiscal year 2025 grants out the door and the radical and illegal policy changes the Trump administration has tried to make to how these funds are distributed—moves that have jeopardized housing for hundreds of thousands of Americans and jobs at organizations who assist people experiencing homelessness.
Senator Murray has consistently worked to address Washington state’s housing affordability and homelessness crisis and has secured major federal investments to help families keep a roof over their heads. Throughout the pandemic, Senator Murray—then Assistant Majority Leader—played a major role in writing federal COVID-19 relief legislation that secured essential support for people facing housing insecurity, championing sizable investments in rental assistance and other programs that collectively resulted in the largest eviction prevention effort in American history. In the FY26 funding bills Senator Murray negotiated, she secured $25.712 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for local affordable housing projects in communities across Washington state, and $15.9 million in CDS funds for local projects providing critical resources like childcare, affordable food, diapers and hygiene supplies, and housing services.
Last year, Senator Murray joined Democrats in warning how the Trump administration’s major staffing cuts at HUD will decimate the ability to deliver basic services and would further exacerbate the housing crisis and would likely prevent HUD from being able to meet critical functions like supporting disaster recovery efforts. At a hearing in June, Senator Murray grilled HUD Secretary Scott Turner on Trump’s fiscal year 2026 budget request for HUD and its sweeping staff losses and funding freezes that are already hurting communities across the country. In September, Senator Murray called for an investigation into the HUD’s handling of the grant award process for the Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds program, after HUD notified the communities across the country that it was once again scrapping the grant application process it had just run—for the second time—and that it was now forcing organizations to apply for funding for a third time. And in November, Senator Murray led Democrats in a letter to Secretary Turner calling on him to immediately halt reported plans to make drastic changes to the Continuum of Care program, which could result in nearly 200,000 Americans being forced out of their housing and back into homelessness.
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