On February 19, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14218 (Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders), directing federal agencies to ensure that federally funded programs are operating in compliance with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), a federal statute that reserves the receipt of federal public benefits, with limited exceptions, to U.S. citizens, U.S. Nationals, and qualified aliens. Subsequently, the US Attorney General issued an order in July 2025 that expressly declined to except any program not clearly exempt under the statute.
In September 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided TDHCA with its 2025 federal Grant Agreements for the National Housing Trust Fund and HOME Programs, which reflect that PRWORA does apply to those programs, among others. Subsequently, in an announcement on November 26, 2025, HUD included HOME-ARP in the programs for which PRWORA would be applicable.
In deference to the Executive Order, the resulting Attorney General order, and the guidance from HUD, the Department will be proposing rule changes to implement the applicability of PRWORA to HOME, HOME-ARP, and NHTF multifamily properties to the TDHCA Governing Board at its meeting on January 15. The draft rule changes will be posted in the Board book no later than January 12, 2026. After the Board’s approval in January, the rule will then be released for public comment for 30 days. A roundtable will take place during that time for staff to answer questions as needed.
Please direct any questions regarding this issue to Brooke Boston at [email protected], or Wendy Quackenbush at [email protected].