HousingWireHousingWire
Previously approved federal grants from Congress are now coming with allegedly unlawful fulfillment conditions for homelessness and transit assistance, which put these services at risk of failing to meet the needs of program beneficiaries.
This is according to a lawsuit filed late last week by eight localities against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the suit takes aim at what it calls unconstitutional funding stipulations that constitute “overreach by the executive branch.”
Led by King County, Washington — the state’s most populous county that encompasses Seattle — the suit also includes the cities of New York, San Francisco, Boston and Columbus, Ohio; as well as Santa Clara County, California, and the Washington state counties of Pierce and Snohomish.
The nature of the lawsuit has become common practice for communities aiming to challenge sweeping cuts and rescissions of previously appropriated federal funds. Similar to other suits, this one claims that the executive branch cannot unilaterally change federal grant conditions without the expressed approval of Congress.
“Despite this, the Trump administration has added several unlawful conditions to the HUD Continuum of Care grant and the FTA Master Agreement,” according to King County officials.
“I have a duty to fully enforce the law and protect these important services for our residents,” King County Executive Shannon Braddock said in a statement announcing the suit. “That’s why we are joining other jurisdictions from around the country to ensure the administration can’t disregard congressionally approved processes and bully local governments to comply with their political agenda at the expense of being able to deliver critical services.”
New York City was awarded $53.5 million in “Continuum of Care funds from HUD for the coming year that it was planning to provide to nonprofit providers of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless households that struggle with disabilities, HIV/AIDS, mental health, substance abuse, family trauma, and other challenges,” the city explained in a statement.
If the city were to lose these funds, it would “directly threaten the housing stability of more than 2,700 households and may put thousands more households in New York City at risk of losing their housing.”
These conditions imposed by HUD on previously awarded grants approved by Congress “are illegal under longstanding constitutional and statutory principles,” according to a statement from Muriel Goode-Trufant, New York City’s corporation counsel.
“Our legal effort seeks to protect tens of millions of dollars in funding that support vital social services in our communities,” she said.
The plaintiffs are also seeking a temporary injunction this week that would block HUD from imposing or enforcing the grant conditions at issue. A ruling on this request is expected by the end of the week, according to King County.
Upon his confirmation to lead HUD, Secretary Scott Turner has railed against policies that he and the White House believe promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in government, including homelessness assistance programs.
In a March post on social media platform X, Turner said that HUD Continuum of Care (COC) programs were “meant to provide funds to end homelessness, unfortunately it was used as a tool by the left to push a woke agenda at the expense of people in need.”
COC funds, he went on to say, “will not promote DEI, enforce ‘gender ideology,’ support abortion, subsidize illegal immigration, and discriminate against faith-based groups,” he said. “HUD will use all available resources to fight homelessness.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has similarly sought to take a hard line against any programs or funding that he said could support DEI initiatives.
