Trump signs executive order targeting homelessness

President Donald Trump just signed an executive order that will help to address the problem of homelessness. 

The order is titled, “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” It can be read in its entirety here.

As we will see, the order puts forth a new approach to the problem of homelessness.

President Donald J. Trump Takes Action to End Crime and Disorder on America’s Streetshttps://t.co/7Sfd6hdjM2

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) July 24, 2025

Order’s details emerge

The order, in part, looks to help cities address homelessness by removing longstanding impediments.

“The Order directs the Attorney General to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees that limit State and local governments’ ability to commit individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others,” the White House fact sheet reads.

It continues:

The Order requires the Attorney General to work with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of Transportation to prioritize grants for states and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.

The order also “redirects funding to ensure that individuals camping on streets and causing public disorder and that are suffering from serious mental illness or addiction are moved into treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.”

Finally, the order “ensures discretionary grants for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery do not fund drug injection sites or illicit drug use” and it “stops sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children, and allows programs to exclusively house women and children.”

Troubling statistics prompt action

Fox News reports, “Homelessness increased in the U.S. by 18% from 2023 to 2024, according to Housing and Urban Development’s annual homelessness assessment report released in January.”

The White House fact sheet points out that “Federal and state governments have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.”

This is one of the issues that Trump specifically promised to address while campaigning for office.

In 2023, for example, he said, “We will use every tool, lever, and authority to get the homeless off our streets. We want to take care of them, but they have to be off our streets.”

We will have to see if this new strategy works better than the strategies previously attempted. It, of course, is a low bar.