2023-2025: Zach Nunn Repeatedly Voted To Increase Iowans’ Housing Costs

April 2023: Nunn Voted For A Debt Limit Package That Would Have Raised Housing Costs For 1.4 Million Americans, Including 5,100 Iowans

April 2023: Nunn Voted For The “Limit, Save, Grow Act” Which Was Also Known As The Republican Debt Limit Package. On April 26, 2023, Zach Nunn voted for: “Passage of the bill, as amended, that would suspend the statutory limit on federal debt through March 31, 2024, or until an additional $1.5 trillion has been borrowed — whichever occurs first. It would also include a range of provisions to limit federal spending, as well as the text of a previously passed energy and permitting policy package. The bill would set base discretionary spending limits through fiscal 2033, capping spending for fiscal 2024 at the fiscal 2022 level of $1.47 trillion — a reduction from current spending levels — and raising the cap by 1 percent annually through fiscal 2033. It would also include similar annual cap adjustments for specified programs, including for wildfire suppression, disability reviews and redeterminations, health care fraud and abuse control, and disaster reemployment services and eligibility assessments. The bill would rescind unobligated amounts from various funds provided by the fiscal 2022 reconciliation package (PL 117-169) for COVID-19 relief, IRS enforcement, and certain climate- and infrastructure-focused initiatives, as well as all unobligated funding from the March 2021 coronavirus relief reconciliation package (PL 117-2) and earlier coronavirus response laws.” The bill was passed by a vote of 217-215. [H.R. 2811, Vote #199, 4/26/23; CQ, 4/26/23]

PBS: The Republican Debt Limit Package Included A Cap On Discretionary Spending, Including “Rental Assistance To House Millions Of Poor And Disabled.” “The bill would set federal discretionary spending at $1.47 trillion during the next fiscal year and allow it to increase only 1 percent annually from there, far below the rate of inflation in most years. The cap on spending is the big-ticket item in the bill, accounting for about two-thirds of the $4.8 trillion in deficit reduction that the Congressional Budget Office says would occur over 10 years if the bill is enacted. Discretionary spending includes things like weapons programs, servicemember pay, grants for schools that serve large shares of low-income students, rental assistance to house millions of poor and disabled, and money to fund research on cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It’s the spending that Congress approves through appropriations bills.” [PBS News, 4/26/23]

CBPP: The Republican Debt Limit Package Would Cause 1.4 Million People Across 640,000 Households To Lose Their Access To “Housing Choice Vouchers, The Largest Rental Assistance Program.” “The cuts called for in the House bill would destabilize households and exacerbate the existing housing and homelessness crises. The Biden Administration estimates that if Congress applied the cut needed to comply with the austere caps to all programs except defense and then cut all other programs — including veterans’ medical care — by the same percentage, 640,000 fewer households (about 1.4 million people) would receive Housing Choice Vouchers, the largest rental assistance program, in 2024. When combined with Administration estimates for other federal rental assistance programs, a total of 989,000 fewer households — or about 2 million fewer people — would get assistance.” [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/24/23]

White House: Losing Access To Housing Choice Vouchers Would Cause Housing Costs To Rise And Put More Than 600,000 Families At Risk Of Homelessness. “Under the Default on America Act, more than 600,000 families would lose access to rental assistance, including older adults, persons with disabilities, and families with children, who without rental assistance would be at risk of homelessness.” [White House Fact Sheet, 5/2/23]

• In Iowa, Cuts To The Housing Choice Voucher Program Would “Raise Housing Costs For 5,100 Iowans” And Cause As Many As 360 Iowa Families To Become Homeless. “Raise Housing Costs for 5,100 Iowans. Under the Default on America Act, 5,100 families in Iowa would lose access to rental assistance, including older adults, persons with disabilities, and families with children, who without rental assistance would be at risk of homelessness. The House Republican Default on America Act would also mean as many as 360 families across Iowa who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or attempting to flee domestic violence would lose access to emergency housing vouchers.” [White House, Iowa State Fact Sheet, 5/2/23]

The Bill Would Have Caused Up To 63,000 Americans Living In Rural Areas To Lose Their Access To Housing

USDA: The Republican Debt Limit Package Would “Cause As Many As 63,000 Current Recipients Of USDA-Funded Rental Assistance In Rural Communities” To Lose Their Access To Housing. “Eliminate Housing Support for Rural Tenants. The proposal would cause as many as 63,000 current recipients of USDA-funded rental assistance in rural communities to lose their unit contract, putting these families at increased risk of homelessness and undermining the supply of affordable housing.” [U.S. Department of Agriculture Fact Sheet, 4/26/23]

USDA: The Republican Debt Limit Package Would Undermine “The Supply Of Affordable Housing” In Rural America. “Eliminate Housing Support for Rural Tenants. The proposal would cause as many as 63,000 current recipients of USDA-funded rental assistance in rural communities to lose their unit contract, putting these families at increased risk of homelessness and undermining the supply of affordable housing” [U.S. Department of Agriculture Fact Sheet, 4/26/23]

September 2023: Nunn Voted For A Spending Bill That Would Have Put 850,000 Households At Risk Of Losing Their Access To Vouchers And Cut Support For Rural America

September 2023: Nunn Voted For The Republicans Spending Bill. On September 29, 2023, Zach Nunn voted for: “Passage of the bill, as amended, that would provide funding for federal government operations and services through Oct. 31, 2023, with a 29.9 percent cut from fiscal 2023 levels for most programs. It would fund veterans’ programs, the Department of Homeland Security, national security programs and disaster assistance at full fiscal 2023 levels. It would also implement nearly all provisions of House Republicans’ border security and immigration bill (HR 2), which the House passed in May 2023. It would provide an increase in funding for the Defense Department at rates set forth in House Republicans’ fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill (HR 4365), which would provide for a 3.6 percent funding increase over fiscal 2023. It would also provide funding increases for the Agriculture Department and provide an additional $220 million above fiscal 2023 levels for Energy Department nuclear programs. Among its border security and immigration provisions, it would require DHS, within seven days of enactment, to resume all activities related to ‘border wall’ construction on the U.S.-Mexico border that were underway or planned prior to Jan. 20, 2021; require DHS to reopen or restore, no later than Sept. 30, 2023, the use of all Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities that were in operation on Jan. 20, 2021; and require DHS to return all unaccompanied children to their country of origin, regardless of whether they are from a contiguous country to the U.S. In addition to provisions of HR 2, it would place limitations on the use of DHS funding provided by the bill, including prohibitions on removing existing U.S.-Mexico border barriers, transporting inadmissible adults into the U.S., and the use of Customs and Border Protection’s ‘CBP One’ app to facilitate the parole of an individual into the U.S. It also would prohibit the use of funds provided by the bill to initiate or resume any project or activity not funded during fiscal 2023 and would establish a congressional fiscal commission tasked with identifying policies to ‘improve the fiscal situation.’” The bill was rejected by a vote 232-198. [H.R. 5525, Vote #511, 9/29/23; CQ, 9/29/23]

• Axios: The Republicans Spending Bill Would Have Cut 30 Percent From All Agencies Except The “Department Of Defense, Homeland Security, And Veterans Affairs.” “The measure would have kept the government funded for 30 days while cutting funding by 30% for all agencies except the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.” [Axios, 9/29/23]
• White House: If Extended For The Entire Fiscal Budget Year, The Republicans Spending Bill Would Have Put 850,000 Households At Risk Of Losing “Access To Housing Choice Vouchers.” “With one day before the end of the fiscal year, instead of following the bipartisan lead of the Senate to keep the government open, 90% of House Republicans just voted for a partisan bill to eviscerate programs millions of hardworking families count on—with a devastating 30% cut to law enforcement, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and more. They are breaking their word, abandoning the bipartisan deal that two-thirds of them voted for just four months ago, and marching our country toward an Extreme Republican Shutdown that will damage our economy, our communities, and national security. Here’s what it would mean for the American people if extreme House Republicans’ 30% cuts were extended for the entire year. […] 850,000 households could lose access to Housing Choice Vouchers.” [White House Fact Sheet, 9/29/23]
• The Republicans Spending Bill Also Cut Programs That “Support Single Family Home Loans, Rental Assistance” In Rural Areas. “House Republicans are making it harder for farmers to access loans and grants making farm ownership more difficult. They are also cutting Rural Housing Service and Rural Utility Service programs that support single family home loans, rental assistance, water and waste programs, electric resources, and access to broadband.” [U.S. House Committee on Appropriations, Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, 9/29/23]

2025: Nunn Voted To Increase Iowans’ Mortgage Costs By $450 A Year, And $13,500 Over A 30-Year Span

July 3, 2025: Nunn Voted For The Final Passage Of The Big Beautiful Bill. On July 3, 2025, Representative Zach Nunn voted for: “Motion to concur in the Senate amendment to the bill that would permanently extend nearly $4 trillion in expiring individual and business tax cuts, create several new tax breaks and fund border and immigration enforcement and air traffic control upgrades. It would cut Medicaid and other safety net programs to partly offset the cost. Among other provisions, it would raise the statutory debt ceiling by $5 trillion and appropriate more than $448 billion in mandatory funding for Trump administration priorities and other needs, including $153 billion for defense, $89 billion for immigration enforcement, and $89.5 billion for border control and security. It also would increase the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 annually for five years for households making up to $500,000 a year until 2030, when it would permanently revert to $10,000.” Motion agreed to 218-214. [H.R.1, Vote #190, 7/3/25; CQ, 7/3/25]

• The One Big Beautiful Bill’s Addition To The US Debt Would Increase 10-Year Treasury Bonds, Pushing Mortgage Home Costs Up By $1,100 In Five Years And By $4,000 In 30 Years. “As the United States borrows more money, interest rates on government bonds generally rise to incentivize investors to buy more debt. That, in turn, increases the cost of borrowing for everyday forms of consumer and business lending. Factoring in the impacts of the megabill, the Yale Budget Lab projected the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds — a key indicator of investor sentiment — would rise an additional 1.2 percentage points by 2054, compared to if the bill didn’t pass. That would push up costs on mortgages, commercial real estate loans, and other kinds of borrowing, said Ernie Tedeschi, an economist at the lab and a member of former President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers. In five years, the interest on a mortgage from the median 2024 home price — based on a $413,000 loan with a 20 percent down payment — could go up an additional $1,100 due to the bill, Tedeschi estimated. In 30 years, the bill would add $4,000 to such a mortgage’s interest.” [The Hill, 7/10/25]
• In Iowa, The Big Beautiful Bill Was Projected To Increase Annual Mortgage Interest By $450 A Year, And By $13,500 Over The Span Of A Thirty Year Mortgage. [Center For American Progress, 6/3/25]