The Trump administration is weighing a proposal to impose a two-year cap on federal rental assistance, a move that would represent the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s public housing and Section 8 voucher programmes in decades. HUD Secretary Scott Turner told lawmakers in June that time limits would curb waste and fraud and encourage self-sufficiency, adding that "HUD assistance is not supposed to be permanent." Elderly and disabled tenants would be exempt, but details on enforcement and implementation have yet to be released. A study by New York University’s Furman Center, obtained by the Associated Press, estimates the time limit could force as many as 1.4 million households—largely working families with children—out of subsidised housing. Roughly 70% of those households have already received assistance for at least two years, the research found, warning of “substantial disruption and dislocation” for tenants and local housing authorities. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and housing-advocacy groups, say the plan risks exacerbating homelessness amid record-high rents, while offering little evidence of fiscal savings. Landlords that participate in HUD programmes also caution that the uncertainty could push owners to exit a system already struggling to retain providers; the agency lost about 50,000 voucher landlords between 2010 and 2020. The proposal’s fate now rests with Congress, which is drafting the fiscal-2026 HUD budget. The House spending bill released this week excludes the time limit, but HUD officials say the administration will continue pressing lawmakers to adopt the change.