After months during which funds have been frozen for some of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP) awards, a federal judge on August 11 ordered the government to explain itself by the middle of the week.

In the past two years, around 50 LeadingAge members were awarded funds under the GRRP to upgrade buildings serving older adults to be more climate-resilient and energy-efficient. The new administration took steps to cancel the awards in January, but was quickly halted by a federal injunction associated with a broader court case to release funds awarded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including the GRRP.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump appointee who had previously issued a preliminary injunction ordering HUD to continue processing all GRRP awards while the broader court case proceeds, requested an explanation for why HUD has not advanced the comprehensive awards, as well as an explanation for why HUD seemingly misled the court for months about its compliance with the preliminary order.

“If no ‘Comprehensive’ funding under GRRP has been processed in the nearly four months since the injunction, the Court struggles to see how HUD’s inaction can be construed as anything other than a serious violation of the Court’s order, one that exhibits blatant disregard for it. That said, the Government is of course entitled to explain itself,” Judge McElroy stated in her order on August 11, and gave a quick deadline for a written statement from HUD and a mid-week conference to discuss the status of the order.

**Update from from 8/14: HUD Responds to Federal Judge on Delayed GRRP Funds**

In response to the judge’s order, HUD and the Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted statements to the court about their efforts to proceed with the awards. Although LeadingAge members with Comprehensive awards have seen no progress from HUD in nearly four months, the Department declared that they were working internally to advance the awards and need more time. The Federal Judge overseeing the case called out the government for appearing to “slow walk” the release of the money; while she stopped short of setting a specific deadline for HUD to move forward with processing the Comprehensive awards, she requested bi-weekly status update reports from HUD, which LeadingAge applauds.

LeadingAge has continued to secure strong media coverage of the stalled funding and applauds the court’s request for more information about the largest GRRP awards. More info on our GRRP work is available here.