While the House of Representatives has yet to produce a Transportation-Housing and Urban Development spending bill for FY 2018, several factors have made it clear that Congress will mostly ignore the White House’s request to make draconian spending cuts to domestic programs. While the Office of Management and Budget requested $462 billion for nondefense discretionary spending in FY 2018, House Appropriators have been directed to draft allocations assuming a $511 billion topline instead.
HUD will likely still see a cut in the House T-HUD appropriations draft compared to FY 2017 numbers, as $511 billion is $4 billion below 2017 allocations. That said, the House’s proposal of a $4 billion cut to all nondefense discretionary programs compared to the White House’s proposal to cut $6.2 billion from HUD alone creates a far better outlook for the Department.
Keep in perspective, however, it is unlikely the House and Senate will pass all 12 appropriations bills in “regular order” for FY 2018. With big ticket items like healthcare reform and tax reform still weighing heavy on Congress’ to-do list, as well as a long August recess, it is likely we will see a continuing resolution before the new fiscal year begins on October 1st.
