Homeless Groups Sue HUD Over Trump Litmus Test for Funds

Two homeless service providers are taking the federal government to court, accusing the Department of Housing and Urban Development of tying housing funds to Donald Trump’s political agenda.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness and the Women’s Development Corporation of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit last week against HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Bloomberg CityLab reported. At issue is a Sept. 5 notice of funding that reopens applications for $75 million in grants Congress authorized for supportive housing.

The updated rules require applicants — and the states and cities they operate in — to show alignment with Trump’s executive orders on homelessness, immigration enforcement and transgender rights.

That makes large swaths of the country ineligible. California, New York, Texas and Washington, all with significant homeless populations, would be shut out or have municipalities sidelined because of state and local sanctuary laws or protections for transgender residents. By the Alliance’s analysis, only 11 states could qualify under the revised criteria.

The plaintiffs argue HUD is unlawfully conditioning access to lifesaving housing money on unrelated political issues. Plaintiffs also say the agency pulled the rug out from under grantees by revoking awards that had already been announced.

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, for instance, touted a $7 million grant for Women’s Development Corp. in August, weeks before HUD reopened the competition and made the group ineligible.

The notice also rewrites the way funds are awarded. Rather than numerical scores, applications will be judged on yes-or-no responses and money will be distributed first-come, first-served. With the Sept. 30 fiscal deadline looming, providers had less than a week to reapply by Sept. 12.

“This is an unlawful attempt to hold lifesaving housing resources hostage to an ideological agenda,” said Skye Perryman, head of Democracy Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs. HUD did not comment.

The case could determine not only the fate of $75 million in expiring grants, but whether future HUD dollars will be contingent on states falling in line with Trump’s broader social policies.

— Holden Walter-Warner