A federal lawsuit filed on Thursday in Rhode Island by two organizations that support the homeless claims that, with $75 million in homelessness grants about to expire, the Department of Housing and Urban Development illegally coerced applicants into embracing President Trump’s positions on immigration enforcement, transgender rights and other charged issues.
The new conditions on aid are so wide-reaching, the lawsuit says, that they disqualify groups in most states from applying, and critics warn they may foreshadow larger efforts to make federal aid a tool of ideological enforcement.
“These conditions have nothing to do with homelessness,” said Ann Oliva, chief executive of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, one of the organizations that filed the suit. “It’s carrying out a political agenda in a program that should never be partisan.”
The suit contends that the conditions violate the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to dictate spending, and conflict with grant-making rules. The housing department did not respond to a request for comment.
King County, Wash., which includes Seattle, filed a similar lawsuit this year when the administration attached conditions to homelessness funds that had already been awarded, including compliance with Mr. Trump’s executive orders on abortion and transgender rights. A federal judge in May temporarily blocked the federal government from enforcing those demands.
Beyond escalating the administration’s maximalist tactics, the latest rule revision underscores the slow pace of federal aid, despite levels of homelessness often deemed an emergency. Though Congress approved $75 million to build supportive housing in 2023 (and added $100 million the next year), none has been awarded, much less spent.
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The post Homeless Funding Was Limited to Groups Aligned With Trump Policies, Suit Says appeared first on New York Times.
