Robert Marbut

Robert Marbut is a renowned expert on homelessness and a senior fellow of Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth & Poverty. Marbut has a PhD in Political Behavior and American Political Institutions and his career has been marked by bipartisanship having served as Chief of Staff for San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros in the 1980s, as a White House Fellow under George H. W. Bush, and most recently as the Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2019 to 2021 under both the Trump and Biden administrations. Additionally, he served on the Board of Directors of the United States Olympic Committee from 1992 to 2004.

Archives

Robert Marbut Defends Trump’s Homeless Executive Order on Chris Cuomo’s Show

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
July 28, 2025}

Dr. Robert Marbut appeared on NewsNation with host Chris Cuomo to discuss President Trump’s “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” Executive Order. Dr. Marbut explains how this Order will serve the street-level homeless community, how harm reduction and Housing First failed, and the importance of focusing on treatment and recovery. …

Robert Marbut Defends Trump’s Homeless Executive Order on Chris Cuomo’s Show

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
July 28, 2025}

Robert Marbut Talks New Homelessness Executive Order on News Nation

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
July 25, 2025}

Robert Marbut appeared on News Nation this afternoon to discuss President Trump’s new “ENDING CRIME AND DISORDER ON AMERICA’S STREETS” Executive Order. Marbut highlights the importance of funding drug addiction treatment, bunks the myth that the homeless will be thrown into jail, and discusses the reasons behind involuntary commitment. …

Robert Marbut Talks New Homelessness Executive Order on News Nation

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
July 25, 2025}

What Happens Now? Robert Marbut and Jonathan Choe Discuss Trump’s Homelessness Order

_{Jonathan Choe and Robert Marbut
July 24, 2025}

Trump’s executive order will severely cripple America’s homeless industrial complex. But these grifters will not go out without a fight. Lawsuits and protests are already planned. Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Dr. Robert Marbut Jr. and I break down what happens next. HAPPENING NOW: As expected, Seattle’s homeless industrial complex is devastated after Trump’s executive order defunding Housing First and “harm reduction.” The multi-billion dollar gravy train is coming to an end. They’re blasting out fear mongering emails to donors and… pic.twitter.com/K6QUdZMkHM— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) July 24, 2025 …

Robert Marbut on America’s Homelessness Crisis, Strategies for Uplifting the Homeless, and Effective Government Policies

_{Wesley J. Smith and Robert Marbut
May 16, 2025}

Homelessness has reached crisis proportions. Few issues of human dignity are as heart wrenching as the wretched scenes in our most prosperous cities — San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle — where one can drive down main thoroughfares and be confronted with tent encampments lining streets that provide scant shelter for thousands of destitute people. The crisis is as multifaceted as it is seemingly intractable. What is the role of mental illness in the crisis? What about drug addiction? Is the rising cost of housing part of the problem, and if so, what can be done about it? What protections does society owe these vulnerable people based simply on their humanity and what responsibilities, if any, do they owe to greater society? It’s all such a mess, it is tempting …

Dr. Robert Marbut and Billy Baldwin Talk with Megyn Kelly About Fentanyl Film

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
April 30, 2025}

On National Fentanyl Awareness Day, Senior Fellow Dr. Robert Marbut appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show alongside actor Billy Baldwin to discuss their new documentary, “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated.” They talk about the lethality of fentanyl, where fentanyl is coming from and how it is getting across U.S. borders, and the legal and social difficulties of getting people into treatment. Find out more about “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated” at fentanyldeathincorporated.com. …

Dr. Robert Marbut and Billy Baldwin Talk with Megyn Kelly About Fentanyl Film

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
April 30, 2025}

Dr. Robert Marbut and Billy Baldwin Talk Fentanyl Doc with Brian Kilmeade

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
March 7, 2025}

Senior Fellow Dr. Robert Marbut and actor Billy Baldwin appeared on Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade Show to discuss their new documentary, “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated.” Marbut and Baldwin discuss how they got involved with the creation of the documentary, the origin of the fentanyl crisis, and the scope of the problem. “The stat that really brings it home,” says Marbut, “ more people have died of fentanyl in the last five years than the last hundred years of war for Americans.” Find out more about “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated,” and where you can watch it, at fentanyldeathincorporated.com. …

Dr. Robert Marbut and Billy Baldwin Talk Fentanyl Doc with Brian Kilmeade

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
March 7, 2025}

Senior Fellow Dr. Robert Marbut and actor Billy Baldwin appeared on Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade Show to discuss their new documentary, Fentanyl: Death Incorporated. Marbut and Baldwin discuss how they got involved with the creation of the documentary, the origin of the fentanyl crisis, and the scope of the problem. “The stat that really brings it home,” says Marbut, “ more people have died of fentanyl in the last five years than the last hundred years of war for Americans.” (Segment begins at 49:15.) Find out more about Fentanyl: Death Incorporated, and where you can watch it, at fentanyldeathincorporated.com. …

Robert Marbut Discusses Seattle’s Homelessness Crisis on the John Curley Show

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
January 17, 2025}

In Seattle, the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness is on track to double in just the next three years. Robert Marbut appeared on KIRO Newsradio’s John Curley Show to discuss the policies that have exacerbated the crisis and the solutions available to the city and county. Discovery Institute released a report last November detailing our policy recommendations for the city of Seattle to curb their homelessness crisis. Read the Report …

Why Doesn’t China Have Addiction Problems Like America? Robert Marbut Discusses on NewsNation

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
January 8, 2025}

Despite being the main supplier of America’s fentanyl crisis, China does not have the same addiction problem. Robert Marbut appeared on NewsNation Prime to compare and contrast the robust ways that China addresses addiction with America’s harm reduction policies. Robert Marbut is Senior Producer of the new film, “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated,” now streaming at Salem NOW. To find out more about the film, go to fentanyldeathincorporated.com. …

Robert Marbut Addresses Rise of Homelessness in 2024 on NewsNation

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
January 8, 2025}

Recent Housing of Urban Development (HUD) figures reveal that homelessness reached an all-time high in 2024. Robert Marbut addresses these new figures — and why Housing First isn’t solving the problem — on NewsNation Prime. …

Robert Marbut Highlights Fentanyl Crisis on NewsNation

_{Center on Wealth & Poverty and Robert Marbut
January 7, 2025}

In December, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Robert Marbut appeared on NewsNation Prime to discuss the fentanyl crisis and the upcoming movie, “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated.” Marbut is the Senior Producer of the film. “We have never seen a drug this deadly, this lethal, this potent, ever in the history of the world,” Marbut told host Natasha Zouves. “Fentanyl: Death Incorporated” will begin streaming in 2025. To find out more, go to fentanyldeathincorporated.com. …

A New Approach for Seattle’s Homelessness Crisis

_{Robert Marbut
November 13, 2024}

In this episode, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by Discovery Senior Fellow and former Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness to discuss a new policy report we coauthored to address homelessness in Seattle. Read the report. …

Housing First Doesn’t Work

_{Robert Marbut
May 28, 2024}

In a classic attempt to bury embarrassing data, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its most recent annual homelessness Point-in-Time Count report on a Friday, shortly before the Christmas break, about 11 months after the counting was done. Try as it might, HUD is unable to hide the problem anymore because the increases are so high.

Conservatives and Liberals Have to Come Together on This Issue

_{Caitlyn McKenney and Robert Marbut
May 16, 2024}

I’m joined on my very first episode by actor Billy Baldwin and Discovery Senior Fellow and homelessness expert Robert Marbut. We talk about their upcoming documentary (Americans With No Address), our experience doing outreach on the streets of Seattle, and why the right and left have every reason to find common ground on homelessness, addiction, and untreated mental illness. …

No Address: An Interactive Study Guide

_{Robert Marbut
March 5, 2024}

A four-session interactive Bible study, based on the documentary Americans with No Address, that examines the biblical response to people experiencing homelessness.Homelessness is not an “issue”; it’s an opportunity for the church to love our neighbors. In this four-session interactive Bible study, we examine what Scripture has to say on the topic. A companion to the documentary Americans with No Address and the full-length theatrical movie No Address (starring Ashanti, William Baldwin, Beverly D’Angelo, and Xander Berkeley), this study teaches participants: The root causes of different types of homelessness. How to engage rather than enable. The importance of collaboration among existing agencies. How to mobilize their church to follow Jesus’ call to …

No More Cabrini-Greens—Motels Aren’t a Panacea for the Homelessness Crisis

_{Robert Marbut
October 25, 2023}

There's a way to do motel conversions right by transforming them into well-managed homelessness assistance centers.

Obama Promised to End Homelessness This Year

_{The former president’s 'housing first' policy has been a dismal failure.}_{Marvin Olasky and Robert Marbut
February 20, 2023}

Housing is certainly part of the solution, but it isn't a panacea.