At D.C. Council hearings and organized rallies, housing advocates across the District are condemning Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed cuts to social safety net and housing programs in her FY 2026 budget, released in late May.
Advocacy groups and individuals have taken to the streets and to the Wilson Building to make their disapproval of the mayor’s budget — which includes severe cuts to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) — known to public officials. Almost 400 witnesses spoke at a June 18 council budget hearing, and several demonstrators held a sleep-in in Councilmember At-large Robert White’s office and a rally to urge lawmakers to reinstate funding for myriad housing programs. In late June, committees on the D.C. Council released budget report recommendations, which reversed some of the mayor’s cuts but did not provide new funds for housing vouchers or ERAP. The full council will take its first vote on the budget on July 14…