During Donald Trump's second presidency, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plans to redirect $3.9 billion away from Housing First " a program that got underway under President Bill Clinton during the 1990s. Trump officials are attacking Housing First as ineffective and claiming that it isn't doing enough to reduce homelessness, especially in major U.S. cities. But according to policy experts interviewed by the New York Times, the program is working much better than Trump allies appointed to HUD say it is. Times reporter Jason DeParle, in an article published on Christmas Day 2025, explains, "The administration called the policy a permissive approach that had let homelessness rise, while supporters said Housing First was backed by proven science. Housing First provides chronically homeless people long-term subsidized housing and offers, but does not require treatment for mental illness or addiction.