ALLENTOWN, Pa. — U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie advised constituents not to read too much into President Donald Trump's proposal to slash the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday following a day spent touring human service organizations in Lehigh County.
Trump's proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year includes a $32.9 billion cut to HUD, a 44% reduction in spending year-over-year. The plan calls for eliminating $26.7 billion currently attached to rental assistance programs plus a new rule that would cap access.
Under the plan, able-bodied, non-elderly adults would be eligible for no more than two years, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
The Trump administration has also proposed cutting the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by 44% in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. Trump has also proposed cutting $532 million to Homeless Assistance Grants and $4.7 billion to community development block grants, which fund improvements to housing, sidewalks, parks and local economic development.
"I've learned this pretty quickly in Washington, D.C., and I saw this in Harrisburg as well: The budget proposals put out by the executive don't mean much."U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley
"I've learned this pretty quickly in Washington, D.C., and I saw this in Harrisburg as well: The budget proposals put out by the executive don't mean much," said Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley. "It is the Legislature that actually goes through the process of crafting these budgets.
"It is incumbent on us in the House and Senate to actually hear and understand what someone is saying in the executive branch. But we're the ones who actually have to do that hard work making sure that funding and services make it to our local communities."
As part of that appropriations process, Mackenzie said he would support restoring funding to popular federal programs the U.S. Department of Agriculture canceled earlier this year. The Local Food Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, created during the COVID-19 pandemic, moved food produce at local farms to schools and food banks.
"That seemed to be an effective program that helped area farmers get connected with food banks. Both entities that are in need. That is something that we should consider potentially bringing back because it did see a lot of success, at least here in our local community," he said.
Allentown Rescue Mission visit
Mackenzie spoke in the lobby of the Allentown Rescue Mission following a tour of the facility Tuesday afternoon. He said that earlier in the day, he visited the Parkland CARES Food Pantry in North Whitehall Township, a Head Start child care facility in East Allentown and met with officials with Valley Youth House, which provides shelter for minors, among other services.
"It was refreshing to see we have so many great resources here in the local community," he said.
He commended the organizations for their partnerships, such as DeSales University bringing in nurse practitioner students to the Rescue Mission so they can get needed experience while the guests can get medical care.
Those resources may see some increased demand in the days ahead. Just a few blocks north, city officials have ordered a homeless encampment in Jordan Meadows be cleared out by Aug. 25. Developer Nat Hyman sued the city earlier this year over the encampment, saying city officials refused to address the situation despite the health and safety hazards it presented.
Mayor Matt Tuerk changed course last week, ordering city officials to clear the camp. He said the lawsuit didn't lead him to shift course but concerns from personnel over the camp's presence in a flood zone did.
Skip Smith, CEO of the mission, agreed it presented a danger, noting the Jordan Creek can flood the area during hurricane season, which is weeks away.
Housing and affordability crises have been piling up in the Lehigh Valley. Rent in the region has increased by 75% or more for some households thanks in part to the second-highest apartment occupancy rate in the county at 96.2%.
At the same time, other aspects of the social safety net have deteriorated. Pennsylvania's budget impasse has locked up funding for the State Food Purchase Program, which provides money to counties to help food banks buy food, and the Pennsylvania Agriculture Surplus Program, which reimburses farmers who donate fresh food.
Smith said the housing shortage is complicating the mission's work, but not in the way people might expect.
Fifty-one of their beds are available to men participating in the mission's transformational program, which provides anger management and other life skill training, and the Clean Team, an affiliated program that gets the men jobs so they can become independent and into their own apartments.
But with rising rent, it's been harder for the mission's guests to afford moving out, Smith said.
"When guys are succeeding and it's time for guys to really go out on their own, wages have not kept up with rent. It used to be two, now it takes three guys sharing an apartment," Smith said.
In the meantime, the Rescue Mission and other area shelters are prepared to assist when the Jordan Meadows camp disbands. The facility had 43 open beds Tuesday plus room for temporary cots if needed, he said.
