Rhode Island judge halts effort by HUD to change criteria for homeless funding

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A Rhode Island judge on Friday temporarily stopped the Trump administration from changing the criteria for using tens of millions of dollars in funding to aid homeless people.

Several nonprofits filed a lawsuit this week accusing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of changing the rules for receiving $75 million in funding to build housing for homeless families and individuals. Plaintiffs accused the Trump administration of changing the criteria for the Continuum of Care Builds program to better align with its social policies.

U.S District Judge Mary McElroy granted a temporary restraining order from the bench while the lawsuit plays out.

“The court’s decision provides significant relief for communities in vulnerable circumstances and for the principle that federal housing funds exist to serve people in need, not to advance partisan goals," Democracy Forward President & CEO Skye Perryman said in a statement. “The administration cannot unlawfully weaponize essential housing resources.”

A coalition of plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued the Trump administration was aiming to upend polices in place for decades to satisfy its political considerations, including whether jurisdictions “support sanctuary protections, harm reduction practices, or inclusive policies for transgender people.”

“We welcome the court’s decision to stop a rushed, lawless attempt to make essential funding contingent on a community’s compliance with harmful and unlawful restrictions the Trump-Vance administration is trying to impose," plaintiffs and their legal counsel said in a statement. “This order ensures that service providers can focus on what matters most: providing safe, stable housing and support to people in crisis.”

A spokesman for HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In their lawsuit, the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the Women's Development Corporation argued that HUD lacked the authority to make the changes, adding that the new award process was “shockingly unlawful" and would "irreparably injure qualified applicants for these funds and the communities they serve.”

They are asking a federal court to find HUD's actions unlawful and to set aside the new HUD criteria for the grants.