Last Thursday, Secretary Turner testified before the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) Appropriations Subcommittee to defend the President’s FY 2027 budget.

Go Deeper: BABA was a central focus of the discussion, with Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), Subcommittee Chair Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) all pressing Secretary Turner for clarity on efforts to streamline the waiver process.

Senator Collins and Secretary Turner had a four-minute exchange about BABA where she referenced the Portland Press Herald article and how BABA is shutting down affordable housing development in Maine.

Senator Collins Questions HUD Sec. Turner on HUD BABA Waivers
Appropriations Chair Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

Subcommittee Chair Hyde-Smith encouraged HUD to move quickly to update it’s COVID-era 30-day notice to vacate rule and to reduce undue regulatory burdens and lower housing production costs related to environmental reviews and BABA. Specifically, she said:

“The BABA waiver process needs to be clarified and it needs to be improved. This will require coordination between both HUD and OMB, but clear timelines and reasonable data request as part of that process can result in more affordable housing being built rather than disappearing into the black hole of the federal bureaucracy.”

She also shared her disappointment with OMB for defunding the HOME and Family Self-Sufficiency programs.

Subcommittee Ranking Member Gillibrand mentioned BABA in her opening remarks, stating:

“We need a fully funded and functional HUD. When HUD cannot process grants or Build America, Buy America waivers efficiently, affordable housing projects stall and get more — not less — expensive.”

She also engaged in a heated exchange with Secretary Turner over the lack of measurable progress on housing affordability and homelessness in his administration.

What’s Next: House and Senate T-HUD appropriations subcommittees will hold their own markups of the FY 2027 budget. The House subcommittee will mark up their version scheduled for tomorrow at 10 AM and the Senate has yet to release their schedule.