On June 4, the House of Representatives passed H.R.8646 – Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2027 in a 213-210 vote. While this bill was passed by the Republican majority, it breaks from many of the administration’s requests in favor of keeping funding levels consistent. The bill that passed through the house allocates $22.5 billion to the Department of Agriculture, $675 million less than last year, a 3% decrease. These funding levels are slightly lower than in the Senate’s version.
In the House bill, the multifamily housing programs keep their 2026 funding levels. The two main ones, Section 515 and 538, build and preserve rural rental housing. Section 515 rental housing draws $50 million in loan authority, plus $16.64 million to repair, rehabilitate, and build housing, while Section 538 guaranteed multifamily loans hold at $400 million. Together they finance the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing for rural tenants, including seniors and people with disabilities.
The Section 521 Rental Assistance Program would receive a total of $1.795 billion, $80 million more than last year. Section 521 is a project-based subsidy tied to Section 515 properties; it covers the gap between approximately 30% of a tenant’s income and the unit’s rent, which is what keeps those apartments affordable for the lowest-income renters.
Notably, Section 542 Rural Voucher Assistance Program will keep its $30 million dollar budget, which would have been eliminated under the administration’s proposal. Section 542 vouchers do something similar for tenants whose buildings leave the program early, helping them stay housed when an owner prepays a Section 515 loan or the property is foreclosed on.
There is also a clear preservation push. The bill sets aside $30 million for a demonstration program to restructure existing Section 514, 515, and 516 loans, which lets USDA reduce or eliminate interest, defer payments, or re-amortize debt to keep older properties financially viable, in return for a restrictive use agreement that locks in affordability. It also directs USDA to give nonprofits and public housing authorities incentives to buy Rural Housing Service multifamily properties and keep them in the program, including a return on their equity and an asset management fee of up to $15,000 per property.
Separately, the House bill would allow the USDA to continue its rental assistance decoupling pilot program. This is a different tool from the loan restructuring above: it protects the tenant’s subsidy rather than the building’s mortgage. Started in 2024, this program allows people who had both a Section 515 loan and 521 rental assistance to keep their rental assistance after their Section 515 direct loans are paid off. Currently, only 1,000 units benefit from this program, but this continuation would expand the program to 5,000 units. The expansion matters because a wave of Section 515 mortgages are set to mature over the coming years, and without decoupling, tenants in those properties could lose their rental assistance once the loans are paid off.
From here, the House bill has to be reconciled with the Senate before it can become law, since both chambers must pass identical text for the President to sign. With the new fiscal year starting October 1, 2026, and Congress rarely finishing its appropriations work on time, a continuing resolution that holds funding at current levels is a likely stopgap in the meantime.