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Court strikes down Trump administration bid to shift homelessness funds away from 'housing first'
A worker with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) helps a person experiencing homelessness move a cart with their possessions in Los Angeles.
(
Patrick T. Fallon
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
A federal court struck down the Trump administration's latest attempt to shift federal homelessness funding away from permanent housing. The decision could change the pace of a separate legal battle between the L.A. region's lead homelessness agency and the federal government.
U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy in Rhode Island found Friday that the Department of Housing and Urban Development violated federal law by issuing new requirements for federal homelessness grants without first seeking public comment.
As a result, the judge threw out the department’s 2026 funding notice for its main federal grant application as a result. That notice officially set the terms and conditions for how communities like L.A. can apply for federal grants.
It's the second time McElroy has struck down HUD's grant regulations on the same grounds. Friday's decision means HUD will have to issue new guidelines for its annual homelessness grant funding competition.
"The court ruled that HUD violated the law when it attempted to shift Congress's priorities away from housing first and towards its own priorities of interim shelter and services," said Shayla Myers, an attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.
The L.A. region was already in the process of preparing its application for federal grants based on regulations that were thrown out Friday. The deadline to submit was just weeks away.
The regulations would have directed a significant portion of funding away from permanent housing and toward transitional housing and treatment programs, prompting California and nearly two dozen other states to sue.
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The Rhode Island decision could also change the pace of a separate legal battle between LAHSA and the federal government. The federal government suspended LAHSA from federal grant activity in June, putting $240 million in funding for the region in limbo.
Judge David O. Carter presided over a federal hearing this week, where LAHSA is looking to overturn the suspension. Carter is expected to decide early next week whether to temporarily block the suspension while the case proceeds to trial next year.
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